Parents in the Thorncliffe Park community opposing Ontario’s new sex-education curriculum have banded together, pulling their children out of school and placing them into a makeshift home-school.
“There should be a concern if 50 per cent disagree. There should a concern if 10 per cent disagree,” said Abdul Rauf Jangola, an organizer of the protest.
Jangola is a former member of the school’s parent council but said he thought his voice was not being heard.
Since the first day of the pullout, the numbers have gone down and the makeshift school has moved its location, but Abdul has no fear of the protest dwindling out.
“This is the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “All of the children here are the families that couldn’t teach their children home-schooled, there are many more at home right now.”
Abdul Rauf Jangola gathers students to sing the national anthem. Geremy Bordonaro/Toronto Observer
The protests have received support from parents across the city. Markham’s Christina Lou supports the protest and has concerns with the curriculum.
“You are delivering the right value for the future,” Lou said. “It’s not that we don’t know [that it’s wrong]. It’s that we were not disclosed.”
While the numbers of those attending the makeshift school have gone down considerably since the first day, organizers like Azeem Mohammed don’t seem too concerned.
“The protests are in many forms,” said Mohammed. “There are some people who remain in quiet protest. Those people will come out in secret ballot.”