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On Wednesday, Alberta Education Minister Adriana LaGrange officially announced a series of policies the province will use to help ensure children are safe when they return to school on January 10.
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To fight the spread of the Omicron variant, the province will give students home tests and medical grade masks to help ensure safety in the classroom.
Minister LaGrange says this will improve a number of already existing health measures, such as distancing, grouping, masking and improved disinfection.
“Children learning in person belong in the classroom and will be there with the added security of rapid tests and medical grade masks,” LaGrange said.
“Most children feel more connected, learn better, and generally thrive when they are at school in person. This is why the Alberta government has placed such a high priority on safe classroom instruction and making sure our schools have the tools they need, ”LaGrange said.
The province says it is addressing learning disruption by introducing students in grades 4-9 to the province’s new e-Tutoring Center that they say can help improve literacy and numeracy. The center will have prerecorded lessons for students to help supplement interrupted learning during the pandemic.
“This will help them catch up on important learning skills that may have fallen behind during the pandemic,” LaGrange said.
The province says the videos are created by Alberta certified teachers working with Alberta Education, are free, and students will have unlimited access to the videos 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Another aspect of the plan is that school authorities will be allowed to make short-term changes to home learning at their discretion, however the decision to change entire schools or school authorities to home learning will remain in the hands of the province. . Those school authorities wishing to switch students to home learning must submit a request for approval to the minister.
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“Decisions will be made quickly and absenteeism rates and other relevant data will always be considered, including local health data, if available,” LaGrange said.
NDP education critic Sarah Hoffman says UCP’s back-to-school plan doesn’t involve the use of HEPA filters, N95 masks, carbon dioxide monitors, contact tracing, or funding for additional staff – things that, According to her, other provinces are using it to help keep children safe. Back to school.
“It’s really weird to hear Dr. Hinshaw tell Albertans that community transmission has never been higher at any time and that we all need to cut back on our daily contacts and then watch the UCP send kids back to school. without any protections that other Canadian students have. receiving, ”Hoffman said.
Reference-www.dailyheraldtribune.com