Shree Paradkar, the Toronto Star’s race and gender columnist, is the winner of the Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy for 2018 to 2019.Paradkar will investigate the failure of the Canadian public education system to provide equitable outcomes for racialized and Indigenous students. “I feel honoured, of course, but I also feel also a rush of gratitude. As an immigrant woman of colour the fellowship is a validation that I belong to Canada. That not only am I entitled to the same voting rights as other Canadians but also that I can continue to critique the systems to make it equitable for all Canadians and Indigenous peoples. The fellowship is a gift to any journalist and it gives me an opportunity to explore a subject I’m passionate about that is equity in education. This isn’t a subject I can explore with nuance in the fast pace of column writing, now I can go in depth.”Paradkar will examine global solutions, with a focus on educators and school boards in Canada, New Zealand and Germany. As part of the investigation, Paradkar will take policy recommendations from Indigenous people, Black researchers and others with lived experiences of the issues being examined.“The fellowship is a gift to any journalist and this gives me an opportunity to explore a subject I’m passionate about,” Paradkar said.Created in 1988, the Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy is named in honour of Joseph E. Atkinson, publisher of the Toronto Star from 1899 to 1948.Recipients of the fellowship produce a series of in-depth articles on an issue of public policy to be published in the Star.Over the one-year fellowship, winners recieve a stipend of $75,000, and up to $25,000 for research expenses.“I am very excited about Shree’s project,” said John Honderich, an Atkinson Foundation board member and the chair of Torstar’s board. “She has been writing a groundbreaking column and her proposal … promises to be ev ...
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