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.

Shree Paradkar, race and gender columnist with the Toronto Star, is the 2018-2019 recipient of the Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy. She accepted the award at the CJF Awards on June 14 in Toronto at the Fairmont Royal York

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 evocative, revealing and a learning experience for all of us. I’m very excited.”

Paradkar said her inspiration for the investigation came from a bright-eyed little Black girl, who is 8.

“As a 6-year-old, she was told in school she had a history of stealing,” Paradkar said. “By 7, after she was diagnosed with ADHD and PTSD, she was bounced from school to school. At 8, when I met her a few months ago and remarked on how lovely she looked, she said, ‘Do you mean I look whiter now?’

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“We are better than this.”

Paradkar said she hopes the year-long fellowship will explore studies and knowledge already in the field and “yield concrete solutions” on how teachers and students can be challenged and supported.

The announcement was made Thursday evening at the Canadian Journalism Foundation’s Annual Awards Gala at the Fairmont Royal York.