What started off as a simple post made by De La Salle Holy Cross College school’s Instagram page in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement, sparked a flood of comments from current and past learners.
The learners spoke out about their experiences of racial discrimination at the school and, although the school has a Transformation and Diversity Committee in place – it acknowledged that more needed to be done for meaningful change.
A memorandum of understanding was sent to the school, outlining the issues that the pupils felt needed to be addressed. Principal Debbie Harris immediately responded and set up online sessions with an external mediator to both engage and properly document the learners’ experiences. Interim learner representatives were then assigned to streamline communication between the learner body and the school for the rest of the year.
One of these representatives for the Transformation and Diversity Committee said, “We would like to make it clear to our fellow pupils to speak to us, if they feel as if they have experienced any form of discrimination. These incidents are anonymously reported to college management during our weekly meetings, where we also receive feedback on the processes being established for change in the school.” They act as a bridge between the school management and the learner body, by reporting and raising awareness on any incidents of discrimination at the school.
The school’s active response to the matters has included evaluating existing inclusion and anti-discrimination structures already in place and reviewing policies and procedures to ensure meaningful and sustainable transformation throughout the school. They launched a #MindShift awareness campaign to add weight to the voices of the learners as well as hosting monthly dialogue sessions to facilitate discussions on issues of racial discrimination and recommendations for strengthening the school’s anti-racism processes to further nurture inclusion, belonging and a discrimination free environment for all the children entrusted into its care.
“Difficult as this may be in many circumstances, the social blights of racism and discrimination are such important issues that schools are duty-bound to make every effort to do what is needed to change the way in which pupils, parents and teachers view diversity. The college has taken up that challenge. We will remember 2020 for different reasons as time passes. For me it will be that this global pandemic did not get the better of us – it not only saw us step out of our comfort zones but saw our pupils, both past and present, find their voice and get behind a number of important issues,” said high school headmaster, Atholl Murray
The students were tasked with finding a way to re-launch the Transformation and Diversity Committee to the high school and communicate their roles as the learner representatives. Learners created a video that was hard-hitting and concise, explaining the purpose of the committee. They reached out to all the minorities in the school and encouraged them to speak on their experiences.
https://youtu.be/xC6Y7IBX3bI
Another representative said this experience was unlike any they had encountered and expressed their being at the forefront of change at their school. In this role they strive to uphold the trust of their peers as they look forward to working with management. Exciting times lie ahead for the school and the committee looks forward to the future within it as they help ensure it’s a place where all backgrounds feel equal and treated with respect.
