In-class and face-to-face experiences are uniquely valuable for students and should be protected at all costs. Here, Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce speaks at at Queen’s Park in Toronto on March 3, 2020.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn)
Forcing parents or students to opt out of mandatory e-learning will only serve to normalize Ontario’s push to cut costs at the expense of what’s best for young people.
If Ontario rolls out mandatory high school e-learning with no in-person class hours, each student will lose 440 hours of face-to-face class time.
(Shutterstock)
For high school students, e-learning is best introduced in face-to-face classes where teachers can meet a greater range of learning needs – not as a completely online experience.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford faces the Toronto skyline as he attends a recent event. Ford’s campaign slogan was ‘for the people,’ but his first year in office suggests he’s not paying attention to their anger about his government’s cuts.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Despite the Doug Ford government’s claim that it’s now listening to ‘the people,’ there’s little evidence anything has changed.
Early intervention could make a difference. Here, protestors gather at Queen’s Park in Toronto on March 7, 2019 to protest changes to Ontario’s autism program.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
An inclusive education researcher says the government’s consolation plan to boost school funding for autism services with no investment in early childhood education flies in the face of evidence.