By Ope Olurankinse
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
everydaymatters@nigeriahorizon.com

I try not to imagine public schools discriminate against black students. Try not to imagine black students disengage from school.

Did my neighbor fail to graduate from high school simply because of race?
Did the street kids leave school because they performed poorly?

That's the thing about our society. Try as you might to wonder why majority of black male students in the school system are falling behind, you always end up thinking about their families and future.
 
In Toronto, a professor is suggesting an Afro centric school, one that offers black students who are on the verge of dropping out a new environment with black teachers.

"A black – focused school challenges the conventional educational environment and stresses the principles pf responsibilities, interdependence, respect for elders, transparency, and accountability," says professor George Dei of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE).
 
While some argue that a black school offers new and creative ways of thinking about knowledge, and then engaging students to use this knowledge to make positive social changes, others simply believe that it would lead to segregation.
 
It is clear some parents want an Afro centric school to help fight the dropout rate among Toronto's black teens. According to a 2006 cohort study, the dropout rate among students from the Caribbean was 40 per cent, compared to 23 per cent for Canadian-born students.
 
"An Afro centric school was one important way to bring young black people who feel disengaged from the education system back to school, said Grace-Edward Galabuzi, a professor at Ryerson University.
 
These parents, as well as many educators and community leaders are obviously frustrated with their children's poor performances.
 
If black students are failed and forced to leave school, is creating a segregated school the answer?
 
Others believe that instead of setting up another school, Toronto public school trustees needs to consider recruiting black teachers as role models for black students who are struggling and also encourage parents to instill a moral foundation and strong code of ethics in them.
 
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is completely against the idea of an Afro centric school. "I'm all for sitting down and looking at ways that we might enhance the curriculum, looking at ways that we might ensure that not just black kids but all kids who aren't doing as well at school as they could, finding ways for them to perform better," said McGuinty.
 
While an afro centric school has the potential for doing good to black students, the question becomes: 'Is an Afro centric school the answer to helping black students participate fully and equally in society or is it just a way of separating kids by race?" Or is it something completely different? Perhaps it is too early to tell.

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