TORONTO — Thorncliffe Park elementary school, in a predominantly Muslim area of Toronto, reported attendance on Monday of 130, according to the Toronto District School Board — 130 out of 1,350 students. That’s just nine per cent who showed up, though on Tuesday it had rebounded … all the way to 16 per cent.
At nearby Valley Park Middle School — best known for controversially hosting congregational Muslim prayers in its cafeteria on Fridays — Monday attendance was just 38 per cent.
Their parents are mad as hell about Ontario’s new sexual education curriculum, and they’re boycotting the entire curriculum, for up to a week, as a result.
Five years ago, when then-premier Dalton McGuinty abandoned much the same curriculum, conservative Christians were generally considered the culprits or heroes, depending on one’s standpoint. And they’re still on the warpath against the curriculum, which with a few tweaks is finally set to go into effect for the next school year.
But the school boycott is a multicultural affair, and the most stunning absenteeism numbers reportedly come from the Muslim community, which was not nearly so prominent in the 2010 debate. (more...)
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