Ontario teachers' unions slam Ford government over report that province could make remote learning permanent

Teachers unions across Ontario are blasting the provincial government after reports surfaced of them potentially making optional remote learning a permanent practice in public schools, CTV News Toronto reports.

"The move to virtual learning was never intended to be permanent; it was a temporary measure intended to deliver emergency instruction during a global health crisis," said Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario President Sam Hammond

"To be clear, this plan will negatively affect students, increase inequities, lower standards in publicly funded education, and put us one step closer to the privatization of public education."

Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation President Harvey Bischoff also criticized the idea, arguing that there are no conceivable benefits for students.

"I'm not sure what the pros are at all because I don't know what problem it is the ministry is trying to solve. We've seen all this year them saying that keeping schools open in a face-to-face setting was the highest priority and, you know, I agree with that as a priority, even though they failed to put in sufficient resources. But now they're saying they want to create a permanent remote learning option and I just can't reconcile those two things."

Ontario Elementary Catholic Teachers Association President Liz Stuart concurred with the other teachers' unions. "I think we can all agree that safety is always paramount but both the education and health experts have been very clear about the fact that we understand the importance of in-person learning because that's the best for students, not just academically which is important, but also for that social and emotional piece," she said.

The criticism comes a day after The Globe and Mail released a report that the Ontario government is considering allowing parents to allow their children to learn from home even after the pandemic is over.

The 2021 budget tabled on Wednesday by the Ford government also included $40 million in funds "to help ensure that students and teachers can seamlessly participate in remote learning in response to COVID-19, and for the future."

Students in both public and private schools across Ontario have done a mixture of school and remote learning since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic last year. While the move to remote learning was viewed by many as necessary to prevent the spread of coronavirus in schools, the practice has been intensely criticized by parents and educators who believe that students do not learn as well from home.

In the Hamilton-Wentworth District School, for example, the rate of course failure has doubled to 16 percent with remote learning. In Quebec, authorities report a failure rate of 30 percent, triple that of other years. Many school boards have cancelled exams and standardized tests in order to save students from further failing courses. It has also been well observed that students are more likely to skip classes when learning from home. Similar patterns have been seen in the United States.