Cancellations of student testing due to virus pandemic

BY PAUL JUNOR

Parents, educators and teachers expressed concerns about Ontario students writing their province-wide tests before the global coronavirus outbreak. The standardized tests which are given to elementary students in grades 3 and 6, and high school students in grades 9 and 10, has been estimated to cost about $52 million per year according to the Ontario Education Workers United. Teachers unions, parents’ groups, and teachers have been calling for its cancellation given the on-going job actions by teachers’ unions.

The government finally made the decision to cancel the testing in an announcement on Tuesday, March 16^th after the decision to add two extra weeks after March Break. Schools will remain shut after April 6^th in a statement from premier.

In his announcement, Minister of Education Stephen Leece explained; “During the COVID-19 global pandemic students are feeling immense pressure in their academic journey. Given these extraordinary circumstances the government is taking immediate action to continue protecting the health and safety as well as reduce the burden on students.”

 The government stated that they consulted with vital stakeholders before they made that decision. “Over the past few days, the ministry consulted with parents, students, educators and administrators on the future of standardized testing for elementary and secondary. Following our consultation and as part of our plan to protect students and staff all remaining standardized tests for 2019-2020 school year has been cancelled,” Leece expounded.

Many people will be happy. The Education Quality and Accountability Office

(EQAO) is an independent provincial agency of the government of Ontario, which was initiated in 1996, and has been testing since 2002.

According to the EQAO homepage it assesses how well Ontario’s public education system is developing students: reading, writing and math skills. The decline in the Math performance of students has raised concerns over the years, and many see the cancellation as not just saving money but enabling the teachers to spend more time teaching than preparing students for testing.

Leece stated, “I want to be clear; this cancellation will not impede student graduation.” There is no doubt that he will release more details in the coming weeks to placate the fears and concerns of many grade 12 students. This cancellation marked the first time that it has ever occurred. This is undeniably one of the far-reaching effects of this pandemic.