Headlines/March 12, 1998 -

Sims speaks on human rights in educational setting

By Don Chapman

Mary-Woo Sims, Chief Commissioner
of the British Columbia Human Rights
Commission was on the UCFV —
Abbotsford campus for a lunch hour talk
on Feb. 12. The talk was jointly
sponsored by the Faculty Staff
Association of UCFV, Human Rights
Committee, and the UCFV Teaching and
Learning Centre. Approximately 20
people were in attendance.

Sims’ presentation was entitled
“Human Rights Protection in the
Educational Setting”. She began by
indicating that the educational setting can
be an ideal site for promoting human
rights protection, but that education can -
also be a barrier to achieving equality j in
- society.

She spoke of forms of discrimination
which can show themselves in
educational settings, for example:
restricting access on the basis of
irrelevant personal characteristics, such
as race and disability; or curriculum
which perpetuates stereotypical views of
disadvantaged groups; or assessment and
.testing methods which are culturally
biased.

In reflecting on the key influences of. ;
education generically, the Commissioner
quoted Mr. Justice La Forest of the
Supreme Court of Canada:

_ “A school is a communication centre
for a wide range of values and aspirations
of a society. In large part, it defines the
values that transcend society.through the

‘educational medium. The school is an

arena for the exchange of ideas and must, .

therefore, be premised upon principles of
tolerance and impartiality so that all
persons within the school environment
feel equally free to participate.”

Sims said that it is imperative in
educational settings for administrative
decision making, including instructional
decisions regarding curriculum, to
incorporate a human rights perspective.

She then set out the particular

‘ obligations of educational institutions as
providers of public services: A university/
college must not discriminate regarding
services commonly,available, against
persons because of colour, ancestry, place
of origin, religion, marital status, family
status, physical or mental disability, sex —
or sexual orientation.

Sims went on to detail examples of
cases in which educational institutions
were required to comply with these.
obligations. As an example, she outlined
an instance where the University of
British Columbia was required to provide
interpreter services for hearing impaired -
students.

“Interestingly, an argument by the
institution that such services would be
too expensive, was not accepted. The
institution did not show that such costs
would represent an undue hardship to the
institution.

"She encouraged educators to ensure
that course offerings be representative of
all cultural viewpoints, and suggested
that this could be achieved in at least two.
ways: 1) by incorporating minority
perspectives into teaching materials, and
2) by engaging in preferential hiring
practices as a means of attracting scholars
and instructors from underrepresented
groups. :

Sims also addressed the issue of the
relationship between academic freedom
and human rights protection, stating that
she did not fee! that academic freedom
and human rights protection are
incompatible. She quoted the Supreme
Court of Canada as recognizing that
academic freedom is “essential to our
continuance as a'lively democracy.” She
drew attention to the protections of |
academic freedom under section 2(b) of

the Canadian Charter of Rights and

Freedoms and under Article 19 of the
United Nations Universal Declaration of

‘Human Rights and Freedoms.

- At the same time, Sims pointed out
that academic. freedom under the
Canadian Charter of Rights and.
Freedoms is not an absolute right; it is
subject to section | of the Charter, which

"states that the right to “freedom of

...expression” is * ‘ subject to such
reasonable limits, prescribed by law, as

-. can be demonstrably justified i in a free .

and democratic society.”

In particular, the Commissioner drew
attention to Canada’s criminal hate

- propaganda laws and the restraints such

place on freedom of expression. She also

pointed out that professors and instructors
need to exercise particular care that their

teaching function is conducted in a
manner which is consistent with these -

- rights and limitations. Again, she set out.

examples, and concluded by indicating her
sense that academic freedom is in large

‘part founded upon the concept of

inclusivity, recognizing the need to seek
to increase diversity, openness, and
tolerance within the educational setting.

- Sims concluded her talk with a
suggestion for action. She indicated that
there are four cornerstones to effective
management of human rights issues in the
educational setting:

1. policy development

2. policy implementation

3. training

4. administration °

She suggested that Canadian.
post-secondary institutions have generally
been successful in dealing with the first of
these, but have been less effective in
carrying forth the other aspects of the
process.

The session concluded with the

Commissioner responding to a variety of...”

interesting questions from the floor. She
also made an offer to consider proposals

_ from institutions such as UCFV, to

establish a pilot partnership relationship

~ with the Commission, in order to develop -

further the four comerstones mentioned ©
above.

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