Kids across Ontario headed back to their schools last week for the first time since all learning was moved online last spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was the second school year in a row disrupted by COVID-19.
For a small percentage of students, however, school is still taking place at home on their laptops instead of in the classroom. School boards in Ontario are still required to provide virtual learning options for the 2021-22 school year.
One of those students is 14-year-old Liam, who would have been attending Grade 9 at Sudbury Secondary School this year.
The former Lansdowne Public School student also chose virtual learning for the 2020-2021 school year. This decision was made partly to protect the health of his mom, Ashley, a Type 2 diabetic.
“For me, as his mother, I was mostly scared for him going in-person,” said Ashley (she asked that we not use the family’s last name in this article).
“I knew that probably there would be kids and teachers not fully vaccinated. I knew he would be exposed to that, even though he is vaccinated.”
Ashley said she thinks that with the way the COVID-19 situation is going right now, we’re probably going to end up in lockdown eventually anyway.
She said the family will reassess whether Liam will move back to in-person learning in February, the Rainbow District School Board’s next transition date.
Stats released by local school boards show very few area students have opted for remote learning this school year.
The Rainbow board said a survey sent out last month indicated less than five per cent of respondents had opted for remote learning.
Sudbury Catholic District School Board said as of Sept. 10, four per cent of its students had chosen remote learning.
Conseil scolaire public du Grand Nord de l’Ontario said last month it had only 44 students registered for elementary virtual learning, and none for secondary.
No information was available from Conseil scolaire catholique Nouvelon, with a spokesperson saying that information would be available as of the end of September.
Virtual learning numbers are higher in Southern Ontario school boards than they are here.
Toronto District School Board is reporting 14 per cent had gone for the virtual learning option, and the Peel District School Board says 18 per cent of elementary students and 20 per cent of high schoolers will learn from home.
For this part, Liam said he actually finds remote school easier, as there are less distractions, and more one-on-one attention from teachers. And his grades have increased from Cs and Bs to B+s and As.
This school year, due to the low uptake in remote learning, Rainbow District School Board is able to provide dedicated virtual teachers at the secondary level as well as at the elementary level.
In the last school year, remote secondary students connected with in-person classes via livestreaming.
The downside to virtual learning for young Liam?
“We don’t really get much fun activities and stuff,” he said. “We do once in a while, but they’re all online stuff. And you can’t really see your friends, you know.”
