This past Monday, March 23, 2020, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that schools within the province will not be reopening on April 6 as the province continues to respond to the coronavirus outbreak.
Earlier last week on March 12, the Ontario government ordered all publicly funded schools to shut down for a duration of three-weeks until April 6. The government then later also declared a state of emergency and required that all privately funded schools and daycares were also ordered to close.
Despite the schools shutting down for further than the three weeks, both Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Education Stephen Lecce say that they are working together to ensure that students will continue to access to education through an online learning platform titled “Learn at Home”
“As a father myself, I know parents always want the best for their children, and I also know from speaking to parents that many are concerned that their child is going to fall behind while schools are closed during this difficult period,” said Premier Doug Ford.
The Minister of Education Stephen Lecce also reassured students and parents that student graduations will not be affected as he announced cancellations of EQAO testing and Ontario Secondary School Literacy Testing as requirements for graduation.
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