Despite assurances from Ontario’s education minister earlier this week, it remains to be seen whether elementary students will actually return to school next week, as planned.
All students have been learning from home this week under the province-wide lockdown, but Premier Doug Ford now says he’s consulting with medical experts about whether it’s a good idea to have younger students back for in-person lessons on January 11th.
The chief medical officer in Windsor-Essex has already said he’s recommending students continue online learning next week, regardless of what the Ministry of Education decides.
Some groups, like the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, have called for stricter safety regulations before kids are allowed back in schools.
“Educators know that in-person learning provides the most effective and equitable learning environment, but unfortunately we are at the height of this pandemic. It makes no sense for the government to send students, teachers and education workers back to school while the province is locked for another two to three weeks,” says ETFO President Sam Hammond. “Despite repeated calls for adequate safety measures, the government has refused to implement them in a misguided effort to save money, jeopardizing the health and safety of students, educators and their families.”
Among the safety measures being called for by ETFO include smaller class sizes, improved ventilation, and board in-school asymptomatic testing.
“There’s a 10 per cent daily increase in ICU occupancy in Ontario right now. This is not the right time to restart in-person learning,” Dr. David Fisman, Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Toronto says. “We have to assume that there is a lot of asymptomatic COVID-19 in schools. It is irresponsible to send children and educators back to schools without knowing for sure that it is safe to do so.”
