Bridging the learning gap; Ontario Ministry of Education releases details for 2022 -2023 School Year

BY PAUL JUNOR

The release of details by the Ontario Ministry of Education regarding the learning plans for schools in the school year 2022-2023 shows that the government is intended to return to a state of normalcy.

The Ontario Education Minister, Stephen Leece, announced the details on Thursday, February 17^th, 2022. “We know this pandemic has led to significant disruption at home and abroad for students. For many students, it has left them struggling with mental health challenges and learning loss.”

Funding for the new school year will be $26.6 billion that will see an increase of $683 million from the previous year and approximately a 2.7% rate of growth. There will be $175 million allocated to provide tutoring support, $25 million for reading intervention programs, $15 million towards summer learning programs, and an additional $10 million for mental health supports.

“There’s nothing more important to the mental, physical, and social-emotional health of a child than to be in school with their peers, with their friends, in front of our educators, but at the end of the day, we appreciate that it is a choice parents will make and students will make the best decision for themselves.”

The full details of Ontario’s Learning Recovery Plan can be seen in the technical briefing at TVO’s website: www.tvo,org.cdn.ampproject.ca. There are references to some of the actions taken by the Ministry of Education as it deals with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The technical briefing states it, “Will build on this progress through targeted programs and funding to support the continuity of learning, student resilience, and mental well-being and continued efforts to modernize Ontario’s education system to ensure students have an important job and life skills.”

The five points in the recovery plan are:

1. Measure and assess student learning levels, including in specific regions and on specific populations, and engage with partners to establish targets for learning recovery.
2. Strengthen numeracy and literacy skills by introducing new or expanding existing learning-focused programs and tools.
3. Build student resilience and mental well-being by stabilizing mental health funding and consulting to develop an approach for school-based supports, in alignment with the Roadmap to Wellness, Ontario’s mental health, and addiction strategy.
4. Introduce comprehensive tutoring support through Ontario’s school boards that include partnerships with community organizations and the expansion of existing online tutoring programs through Mathify/Eureka.
5. Modernize education to better prepare students with important job and life skills, including updating curriculum and programs.

The fact that students will be able to access tutoring support not just during and after school but on weekends and during the summer will go a long way to bridge the learning gap.