Ontario schools will offer remote learning for at least one more year

A grade 6 student takes part in a virtual school session with her teacher and classmates via Zoom on April 2, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

The provincial government is mandating all school boards provide a full remote learning options for the 2022-23 academic years.

Minister of Education, Stephen Lecce says the government is investing more money to develop online learning infrastructure and hire more temporary staff.

“The priority of this government is in-class learning there's nothing more important to the mental, physical and social emotional health of a child than to be in school with their peers, with their friends, in front of our educators,” Lecce said. “But at the end of day, we appreciate that it is a choice parents will make and students will make the best decision for themselves.”

The local Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) believes it’s time to move on.

“The best place for kids to learn in front of their teacher with their peers and in the public education schools,” says Spokesperson, Mario Spagnuolo.

The Ford government says they want to give parents one more year to choose where their kids attend classes, given the evolving nature of the pandemic.

“I don’t blame any parent who are taking it slow and waiting. And maybe their kids are thriving in the virtual environment. Maybe this is something that’s really working for them,” says parent, Kristen Siapas.

Other parents are ready fro a full return to the class in the fall.

“Watching my youngest go through SK, Grade 1, Grade 2, you have all those fundamentals you just can’t learn on a screen,” says Stephanie Bell, a mother of two.

Lecce made the announcements during a news conference on Thursday, which detailed the government’s 2022-23 school-year budget and ‘Learning Recovery Action Plan’ to support students struggling with learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the Grade 3 and 6 EQAO assessments will restart this spring after a two-year pause due to the pandemic. The resumption plan, the government says, is to identify areas of learning loss due to the pandemic in different regions in Ontario.

“Given the stress of the past two years we now are at a point where we believe we need to be able to better understand the problem, which is why measurement tools are critical,” Lecce told reporters at the news conference.

“This is not the time to try new ideas,” says Spagnoulo. “This is the time to focus on student’s mental health, on staff mental health. Try to get back to some type of normal.”

Lecce says the government is investing more money to develop online learning infrastructure and hire more temporary staff.

“We will continue to make sure the quality of online learning remains very high in this province for those that choose it.”

Spagnuolo believes more should be done for in class learning.

“What the government should be focusing on is smaller class sizes, increase supports for students with special needs. I know people might think we’re complaining. We’re advocating. We’re advocating for kids in the classroom that need support.”

The government said this year it will provide a projected $26.1-billion in Grants for Student Needs (GSN) funding, and $500-million in PPF funding.

Roughly $600-million of that money will go toward the government’s learning recovery plan, which aims to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic’s toll on students’ learning, resilience and mental well-being.

Its “key investments,” the ministry said, is its pandemic-related support, which promises $15-million toward summer support programs, $11-million for de-streaming implementation support and $25-million for reading intervention support.

An additional $1.4-million will be allocated to expand year-round online tutoring supports, the education minister said.

Funding towards students’ resilience and mental well-being promotion will increase by $10 million, bringing the total to $90 million.

The ministry will require “mandatory professional development on student resilience and mental well-being for educators.” 

— With files from CTV News Toronto