A Toronto school trustee is floating the idea of bringing an African and black culture course to all Toronto public school students.
Trustee Josh Matlow says the Toronto District School Board needs to focus on bringing children of different backgrounds together.
"I would like the priority and certainly the energy and the limited resources of our school board to go towards ensuring that all of our students learn about their own backgrounds and their own heritage while also learning about their friends," he said.
Last week the TDSB reported that only 15 students have registered for the proposed Africentric Alternative School, raising the possibility that the school may not go ahead next fall as planned.
The final deadline for a minimum of 40 students to register is not until March.
Matlow says he'll propose the motion at Wednesday's school board meeting as a means of keeping the idea moving forward in case the school doesn't get the numbers it needs.
Matlow says he wants to ensure "that our curriculum, that every student learns from, is reflective of the diversity of the city of Toronto. So what I'm hoping to see is that kids, no matter what their background, and no matter what school they're in, learn more about black and African studies along with other world cultures together in the same classroom," said Matlow.
The school that has been chosen for the Afrocentric classes, Sheppard Public School, is at Keele Street and Sheppard Avenue West.
Initially, the new school is supposed to teach children from kindergarten to Grade 5, with the desired aim of combating the disproportionately high drop-out rate among black students in the Toronto school system.
The registration deadline is March 9.
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