Canada's largest school board has voted to ask the Ontario Human Rights Commission to create a plan that would address caste oppression in the public education system.
The Toronto District School Board voted on a motion related to the caste system – a largely South Asian practice of assigning people their social status at birth – on Wednesday night, after the matter was first raised by trustee Yalini Rajakulasingam.
Rajakulasingam says the passing of the motion means the board has recognized that caste oppression is an issue at Toronto schools.
Trustees at the TDSB meeting said they've heard of students being bullied over the caste they identify with.
TDSB Trustee Alexis Dawson, who voted in favour of the motion, says caste discrimination has become a global issue as South Asians immigrate around the world.
Ritu Birla, a professor of history at the University of Toronto said the caste system is a complicated form of hierarchal social order, and a person's caste may be identified through things such as their last name, family occupation, diet, or area of origin.
India banned caste discrimination in 1948 but injustices against those at the bottom of the caste pyramid, known as Dalits or "untouchables," is an ongoing issue.
The motion states that the TDSB will ask the human rights commission to assess the issue of discrimination based on caste and come up with a framework to address it.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 9, 2023.
