The Toronto District School Board has voted to officially end its partnership with the Confucius Institute, a China-sponsored agency.
School trustees approved a motion Wednesday night to repay $225,000 advanced to the board by the Chinese government. The money would have been used to bring teachers from China to work in after-school Chinese language classes.
Earlier this year, the joint-program had sparked the ire of some parents and community members. They said the Beijing-sponsored agency was a mouthpiece for the Chinese government.
Ahead of Wednesday's meeting, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the TDSB’s headquarters to demonstrate against the program. Students for a Free Tibet, one of the groups participating in the rally, called the TDSB’s decision to cut ties with the Confucius Institute a "victory for academic freedom."
"The trustees of the Toronto District School Board stood up for democratic values and an education free from censorship," a statement from the group said Wednesday night.
School trustee Sam Sotirpoulos also applauded the board’s decision, saying that the TDSB should not be involved with a "totalitarian regime."
"At the end of the day, for any institution of education to be involved with such a totalitarian regime in any capacity raises questions of problematic nature."
