‘It’s Discriminatory’: Students from Ontario’s School for the Blind Urge Province Insist on Ending Virtual Learning | The Canadian News

In a video circulating online, blind and partially sighted students at W. Ross Macdonald School in Brantford, Ontario urged the provincial government to reopen accommodation so they can return to personal learning.

“Everyone else is allowed to go back to school at the moment, I feel it’s discriminatory,” said student Megan Myers.

“Being online means we do not have equal access to education, and as people who are already a minority in society, it is a major setback,” said student Jade Ondrick.

In an interview with Global News, 18-year-old Ondrick said she was losing important life skills because the school’s residency program was closed.

“Being able to be in the accommodation program means that I can help with cooking on Thursday nights and that I learn proper cutting techniques and all those kind of independent skills that people who are competent and who are fully visual take for granted,” she said.

W. Ross Macdonald School is one of a handful of Provincial and Demonstration Schools in Ontario that have closed their residences.

“The recommendation was that if we can not achieve isolation with an immediate time frame if a child is symptomatic to go home, it could have an impact and potential risk for these children and therefore we made the difficult decision on the strict advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health to have a temporary hub to virtual, but I know these children need to go back to class, ”Education Minister Stephen Lecce told Global News.

If students can get out at Brantford School every day, they can attend it in person, but most live far away so they learn virtually at home.

“It does not matter if you are visually impaired, poor eyesight, low vision, blind, deafblind does not matter, we learn in a practical environment,” said student Mehak Aziz from her home in Toronto. “Through an online environment, we can not get the same experience.”

“Students like me rely on everything when it comes to life skills, socializing, even improving our academy because of our wonderful boarding staff who can help us with our work at night and they encourage us to do so much,” said student Alex Marlet said of his home in Oakville.

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Tamara Witcher, deaf teacher in Toronto, has started a petition calling for student housing to be reopened at provincial schools.

“Our residences have been closed indefinitely, despite no outbreaks and low student enrollments, the Provincial School Branch has made no commitment to reopen them, and they must have found a way to bring personal learning to the keep going, ”reads the petition.

Witcher told Global News there was “no consultation with any stakeholders” before the stay closed and there was “no data to support closure.”

“It is essential that our students can come to school to learn personally. Some of the skills and education they really need can not be learned or learned online. Our students are vulnerable and need it for their mental health. “This is the first time our students are not allowed to learn in person, while the rest of Ontario’s schools are allowed to open,” she said.

“For our students, many of them experience isolation and lack of communication at their homes. Most of their families are unable to communicate with their children. Their access to education online is extremely limited and is affected by it all, ”Witcher added.

David Sykes, District Officer of Provincial Schools Teachers (PSAT), said COVID-19 was initially cited as the cause of the closure, but pointed out that there were no COVID-19 outbreaks within the Provincial and Demonstration Schools Branch (PDSB). not. )

“The unions, OSSTF and OPSEU, have both stated that it is not justifiable, both in terms of the COVID numbers and the health and safety measures we have in place, and it is not justifiable in terms of the impact that it has not on. students learn, ”he said.

Sykes said he was consulted on how to justify the situation, “except that it may be in the ministry’s best interest and there may be a major disconnect between what the provincial schools think is important and what the teachers and those on the front line is. think.”

Lecce said the government was “fully committed to getting them back to school.”

“There is nothing more important than providing in-class learning for children with exceptions, as we are determined to make sure they are safe, and until the Chief Medical Officer of Health gives us the go-ahead, we will continue with the current position recognizes that they need to come back, ”Lecce said.

Disability rights advocate David Lepofsky, who also chairs the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance, said it was further evidence that blind and partially sighted students are “second-class citizens in Ontario’s education system.”

“This is due to a systemic, decade-long failure by the provincial government and the Ministry of Education to provide the kind of leadership and oversight they provide to other students across the province,” Lepofsky added.

For students, like Aziz, now 17 years old, the loss of accommodation is the future plans back.

“It’s a bit of a problem now because I need independent life skills to go to high school, because of course you have to move out one day,” she said, adding: “Now that accommodation is closed, I can not get those skills I need to be functional when I go to high school. ”