Toronto’s school board has approached a provincial human rights organisation for assistance in developing a framework to address the issue, becoming the first in Canada to acknowledge caste discrimination in the city’s schools.
On Wednesday, the Toronto District School Board approved a proposal to that effect that was made by board member Yalini Rajakulasingam. The resolution received votes from 16 trustees, and 5 trustees opposed it.
The action deals with a subject that is significant to the South Asian diaspora in the area, especially the Indian and Hindu groups. By a city council resolution, Seattle became the first American city to forbid caste discrimination a few weeks prior.
The caste system in India is one of the most ancient examples of rigid social segregation.
‘This motion is not about division, it is about creating healing and empowering communities and providing them safer schools that students deserve,’ Rajakulasingam said.
Rajakulasingam called for a partnership between the human rights commission of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, and Toronto’s school board.
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