MOSAIC recently released a letter to the Minister of Education and Child Care, Rachna Singh, calling for the provincial government to mandate anti-racism education in schools across B.C.
The letter, and its associated calls for action, were in response to increased incidents of racism post pandemic as well as the B.C. government’s launch of its Anti-Racism Action Plan, released in January 2023.
The Anti-Racism Action Plan aims to create change in primary and secondary schools by raising awareness and introducing resources to improve the educational experiences of racialized students. Empowering students and knowing when to tackle discrimination are expected to be centrefold for educators and students alike, according to the government plan.
Sandhya Ghai, MOSAIC’s Manager for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and Haebin Pan, Coordinator of Surrey Together Against Racism, highlighted the importance of mandating anti-racism education across the K-12 spectrum.
“Important as it is, anti-racism education will only be taken seriously if it is mandated, similar to the mandated Indigenous education in schools,” Ghai wrote in the letter to the Minister. “[The] BC school system has successfully integrated Indigenous education over the years leading up to the recent requirement of successfully completing four credits in Indigenous-focused coursework to receive a BC Certificate of Graduation.”
Ghai added the Indigenous curriculum provides a successful template to design anti-racism curriculum.
“The government needs to form a committee of experts and folks with lived experience, which will gather the available anti-racism education resources and create new ones, specifically for each grade level.”
In addition to raising awareness for the long-standing systemic racism experienced by racialized people in Canada, MOSAIC highlights four reasons for mandating anti-racism education in the B.C. school curriculum:
- To combat racism proactively, as Canada expects to welcome 500,000 newcomers annually until 2025. As immigrant numbers increase, we may witness a rise in racism and hate crimes;
- To consolidate resources, as information is currently “scattered”, making it difficult for teachers to implement into their syllabus;
- To avoid tokenism – Making anti-racism education mandatory in student coursework. Simply implementing anti-racism education and resources to commemorative dates only makes the educational response, superficial at best;
- To ensure safety in schools as the pandemic has seen an increase in hate crimes, particularly toward Black, Indigenous and Asian communities. A mandate will emphasize the importance of IBPOC perspectives by including a space for racialized students and members of the community to share their stories as a method to increase understanding.
Access the full letter in our Advocacy and Research page.
March 21, is International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. MOSAIC is determined to work with its partners to continue fighting racism and discrimination by announcing the need of mandated anti-racism education in B.C. school curriculum.
