The TDSB's Double Talk/Bafflegab Re Its Mosqueteria

To be clear (ha!), the Toronto District School Board does not allow religious indoctrination to occur on its premises, except when it does:

The Board continues to follow the legal requirement that religious exercises and indoctrination shall not occur in its schools.   However, there are requests for religious accommodation that can be accommodated. For example, students are not required to attend school on a religious holy day.  They are also accommodated with respect to religious dress requirements.  In all cases, requests are considered in light of legal and safety requirements.

In the case of Valley Park Middle School, at the request of parents and the local community (which is predominately Muslim), the school is providing unused space for prayer. The prayer services are not a Board or school activity and are not considered to be part of the instructional day.  The prayer service lasts approximately 30 minutes and then students return to class. In the past, several hundred Muslim students at Valley Park were leaving the school each Friday afternoon between November and March to attend prayers at a local mosque, which meant missing more instructional time and walking unsupervised to and from the mosque.  

The school is not teaching any “religious practice.”  Rather, it is providing a practical solution to allow students to adhere to religious practices that are required to be observed during Friday afternoons.

There have been concerns expressed that the practice of Islam separates individuals by gender.  This division of males and females during prayer is part of the Islamic faith.  The prayer is not conducted under Board auspices, and we are not in a position to dictate how religious exercises, such as prayer, are conducted by any religion.  Students who participate in the prayer services do so voluntarily and with parental permission.

We understand that this is a very sensitive issue for many, and that there will continue to be differing opinions among members of our communities. However, we believe it is the willingness to have courageous conversations like these that has made Canada the diverse yet cohesive society that comes together in Toronto District School Board’s classrooms every day...

Don't you love how the board pats itself on the back for being "courageous" even as it caves in to doctrines (gender segregation, sexual inequality) it professes to abhor, and prohibits as a matter of policy? As for the notion that there's been any sort of "conversation," courageous or otherwise, taking place--the board shut that down post haste so that a Wahhabi house of worship could become a permanent fixture at this school, and a model, perhaps, for future mosques at other public schools.

"Courageous"? If you say so, Timorous Dhimmis (of the TDSB).