Parents, students, teachers and administrators are grappling with the risks and trade-offs of Quebec’s insistence on in-person learning amid the coronavirus pandemic
Dr. Gervais is far from alone in struggling with the province’s approach to getting kids back into classrooms this fall. Although Quebec was Canada’s COVID-19 epicentre, with more cases and deaths than any other province, it is moving more aggressively than anywhere in the country to get primary and secondary education back to normal.
“The success of the coming school year cannot only be measured by our ability to control the pandemic and avoid outbreaks,” Education Minister Jean-François Roberge told the newspaper La Presse. “Success in a school is measured by the light … of academic success.” A Quebec Superior Court hearing is scheduled for next Thursday, when Mr. Grey hopes to secure a safeguard order granting the parents an e-learning option while the case makes its way through the courts.
Quebec’s relative laxity about masks in schools has also prompted criticism and, in some cases, defiance. Masks are not required in class for students of any age, though older elementary- and high-school students must wear face coverings in common areas such as hallways. Some English-language private schools have announced that they will ignore the regulations and require masks in classrooms anyway.
While the federal government announced $2-billion in extra funding to the provinces for safer school reopening on Wednesday, Quebec’s last-minute investments in schools have largely been directed at improving educational quality, rather than shoring up health measures.
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