Back in March, Mandeep Kandola attended a Sandalwood Heights Secondary School parent council meeting, and what she heard left her deeply concerned.
“We were informed that next school year, there’s going to be 18 sections of e-learning, which translates to more than 500 kids who would have been forced to take e-learning courses. That’s nearly half the students at the school,” shared Kandola.
Kandola’s daughters, who are in grades 10 and 11, have always opted out of Ontario’s e-learning mandate as they prefer in-class instruction. “But now I’m not sure we have a choice.”
Kandola said what’s more concerning is how the school informed parents of the new protocol; it was only verbal at that meeting. Nothing in writing has been sent to students or parents.
“When I asked why parents weren’t allowed to get written notifications about what was going on, there was no answer. There’s no response to that,” said Kandola.
Parents who attended the meeting fought the proposal and according to conversations Kandola has had with school leaders, Peel District School Board (PDSB) has since reduced the number of e-learning requirements. But Kandola and other parents are still unsure how the new mandates will impact their children.
“We have no other information and that’s what is most concerning here, parents have the right to know what next year will look like and we still don’t.”
It’s an issue also concerning the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF).
“Not being privy to the conversations, I don’t want to speculate what’s happening in Peel but if their children are being moved to online learning, families should be clearly informed and in writing,” said OSSTF President Martha Hradowy.
The OSSTF has been fighting what they call an immense push by Ontario’s Ministry of Education to mandate e-learning, not just in Peel Region but across the province.
“What we’ve been saying is, there are circumstances in which it can absolutely work, but no student should be forced to engage in mandatory online learning,” shared Hradowy
Speakers Corner reached out to both PDSB and the Ministry of Education asking what the new requirements will look like and how many students will be impacted next school year.
Neither responded to our request.
That silence has left parents like Kandola unsure what next year will look like for her children. “We don’t know because they haven’t gotten their courses yet but right now what I’m hoping for is for the school board, the government, to come clean and tell us what’s going on.”
Kandola says many parents may be unaware these changes are in the works.
“A lot of parents don’t have the time to attend these parent council meetings and if nothing is being sent home in writing, how will they know what’s going on?” Kandola asked. “When you’re being told by your principal and your vice principals that they’re not allowed to even tell us in writing what’s going on, it seems very underhanded and it’s suspicious.”
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