Ontario to collect student race data
Attempt to make schools more inclusive
• Ontario says it’s launching a three- year strategy to make the province’s education system more equitable and inclusive for people of all backgrounds and cultures.
Education Minister Mitzie Hunter released details of the plan on Thursday, filling in some objectives of the three- year strategy that was previously projected to cost roughly $7 million.
The Education and Equity Action Plan calls for a new approach to Grade 9, a time when students typically decide whether to pursue their education in an academic or an applied stream that often shapes future career choices.
Hunter says Grade 9 is too early to make such a decision, adding that the plan calls for expanded opportunities for students to explore such options as college, university or apprenticeships.
The action plan calls for identifying disparities in suspension and expulsion rates among some student groups as well as providing more teaching material to address a variety of cultural backgrounds.
To do this, Hunter says the government will collect demographic data on students, including details on race, to help identify systemic barriers.
The plan says staff needs to better reflect the diversity of the student body, adding senior administrators will be encouraged to keep equity in mind when hiring and promoting staff and that such efforts will be included in their performance appraisals.
“I strongly believe that we must continue to deepen the connections between achievement, well- being and equity,” Hunter said at a news conference at a school west of Toronto. “These must be inextricably linked, almost like a braid, just wound together.”
Word of the government’s plans to collect demographic data on students sounded alarm bells in some quarters.
Ann Cavoukian, who served three terms as Ontario’s privacy commissioner, said gathering sensitive information about race and ethnicity may have negative unintended consequences.
The government has sound intentions, she said, but such demographic details are not necessary to address systemic barriers.
Ample research already exists highlighting the types of systemic barriers that exist within the education system, she said, adding that demographic info would be both redundant and potentially dangerous in the event of a privacy breach.
“Let’s say you systemically demonstrate that one racial group is worse than another in terms of employment prospects or various skills that are considered to be appealing,” she said. “What if word of that got out, which it will, and then employers say, ‘ we’re not going to have this guy.’ ... It could, in fact, escalate future discrimination in terms of racial profiling.”
Hunter said the government already takes data privacy very seriously, adding it already tracks some educational details and wants to add the extra info to help with “evidence- based decision-making.”
STAFF NEEDS TO REFLECT THE DIVERSITY OF STUDENT BODY.