Teachers 'scratching their heads' as high school students head back to class just weeks before summer vacation: union
All high school students are heading back to class full-time Monday as Montreal and Laval return to COVID-19 orange alert levels.
With just weeks left in the school year, students and parents will need to adjust yet again to resumption of extracurriculars, and the return to daily in-person classes.
“I do not understand why we would have to change it up with two and a half weeks left,” said Heidi Yetman, president of the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers (QPAT).
Yetman says that schools will need to adjust their facilities to accept a greater volume of students.
“There are a lot of things to consider here since classrooms have been set up for half-sizes,” she said.
“Even the logistics of adding in new desks, putting in chairs and reorganizing basically your whole classroom to accommodate (more students) with two and a half weeks left of school … I think that it doesn't make very much sense.”
CTV News reached out to Quebec’s education ministry for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
School environments make up 26 per cent of active outbreaks in the province, the second-largest share of total outbreaks in Quebec, behind workplaces.
While about 1,000 active cases remain in school environments, infections have been gradually declining in recent weeks as teachers and students receive vaccinations.
Currently, 45 per cent of youth between 12 to 17 years old have either received a first dose of the vaccine or made an appointment to receive it.
Still, Yetman says she’d rather the education ministry keep measures tighter while many in Quebec await their second dose.
“Students are being vaccinated, but they aren't fully vaccinated yet,” she said. “So of course, teachers are scratching their heads. Why would we do this for two and a half weeks?”
“We feel like there's a light at the end of the tunnel. So, let's not darken that light by having some sort of outbreak in a school.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
CFL suspends Argos QB Chad Kelly at least nine games following investigation
The CFL suspended Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for at least nine regular-season games Tuesday following its investigation into a lawsuit filed by a former strength-and-conditioning coach against both the player and club.