TORONTO – Ontario will allow high schools to move back to the regular semester in February.
Government officials said school boards could make the change sooner if they had the support of the local public health unit.
Many school boards have requested that the “revision semester” be moved away, which sees students take four subjects each semester, alternating two classes per week.
The system allows for easier persuasion, but students and parents complain that the three-hour classes make it difficult to absorb and retain information.
The change in the new year will be the first time high school students have had some deviation from their normal school schedule since COVID-19 closed schools in March 2020.
Last school year, many secondary schools chose the “fourth semester” model, in which the school year was divided into four terms, with only two subjects in each term.
The upcoming change is part of a series of measures the province will announce today.
The government also says that starting January – if not earlier – all primary school-wide meetings will be held virtual.
Lunches and breaks in elementary schools will be restricted to study groups in indoor classrooms where distance between groups cannot be maintained.
This Canadian Press report was first published on November 18, 2021.
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