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
Ottawa injects another $36M into vaccine injury compensation fund
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
'Secret report' or standard research? B.C. government addresses safe supply allegations
B.C.’s premier and one of his top lieutenants are pushing back against allegations by the Official Opposition that he covertly commissioned a report into the diversion of safe supply drugs onto the streets.
Video shows suspects waving weapons, smashing glass in Toronto jewelry store robbery
Arrests have been made after five men were captured on video rampaging through a jewelry store in Toronto, waving weapons and smashing glass display cases.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
She was too sick for a traditional transplant. So she received a pig kidney and a heart pump
Doctors have transplanted a pig kidney into a New Jersey woman who was near death, part of a dramatic pair of surgeries that also stabilized her failing heart.
What Canadians think of the latest Liberal budget
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
opinion Why you should protect your investments by naming a trusted contact person
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Teacher shortages see some Ontario high school students awarded perfect grades on midterm exams
Students at a high school in York Region have been awarded perfect marks on their midterm exams in three subjects – not because of their academic performances however, but because they had no teacher.