Local students to continue online learning

January 28, 2021 · 0 Comments

By Brock Weir

Students in Peel will continue learning from home – at least for the time being.

Area students who have been out of the classroom since Winter Break will have to continue cooling their heels before returning to class, the Province announced last week.

On January 12, Ontario’s Ministry of Education announced elementary and secondary school students in York and Peel, Toronto, Windsor-Essex, and Hamilton will continue remote learning. A further announcement on January 20 noted 100,000 students in select communities would be returning to class on Monday, with the above regions among the many missing the cut.

In the meantime, the Ministry said for the Regions left behind in this re-opening plan, health trends in these areas would be monitored closely.

“To support families during this period, child care will remain open and available for non-school aged children across the province,” said the Province. “Where elementary schools continue to be closed for in-person learning, before and after school programs continue to be closed and prohibited from charging parent fees. Emergency child care will be extended to support those workers that require it during this period

“To support students facing mental health difficulties, the Government announced an additional and immediate $10 million from its Phase 2 federal funding allocation to support student mental health and expand access to services in both rural and urban communities. This funding builds on the Government’s investment of more than $32.5 million in student mental health since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This investment supports up to 475 additional staff to support student mental health and compliments the addition of 625 school-based public health nurses and expanded mental health education.”