Thousands of students have been absent from class “without reason,” according to recent data from the Toronto Public Schools Board.
It’s unclear why they were out last week after the province’s last-minute decision to move schools to remote learning due to rising COVID cases. But the figures reveal that absences were particularly high among elementary school students.
“It’s definitely interesting to see the change, but it’s hard to say what it means,” said Ryan Bird, a spokesman for the Toronto District School Board.
The drop in attendance came after Prime Minister Doug Ford warned on January 3 of a “tsunami” of COVID-19 cases and forced schools after the holidays to resume virtually January 5 until at least on January 17. person next week.
School closures, days after the province assured Ontarians they would reopen in person, frustrated many parents. Some took to social media, using the hashtag #dontlogon, vowing to boycott remote learning, saying it’s too stressful for young children and working parents.
Toronto father Karl Halbgewachs kept his second-grade son out of virtual learning, without giving the TDSB any reason, as a way to pressure the province to return to in-person learning.
“We felt like the two weeks (of remote learning) that the government announced would turn into four weeks, then two months, then four months, and then we would be in June,” he said.
Halbgewachs isn’t worried about his son’s learning loss, noting that they can make up for that at home, but about the loss of socializing with peers at school.
According to the TDSB, on January 5, the top reasons for full-day absences at elementary schools and the number of students absent were: No reason provided: 10,636; others — 3,337; illness — 1,238; vacations: 1,025; and family: 763. Among high school students, 5,212 were absent without reason; 160 others listed; 152 were on vacation; 137 were sick and 107 were excused.
For the next two days, similar numbers were absent for the same reasons. On January 6, 8,158 elementary students were absent without reason, and the next day 9,050 were absent without reason.
“There are a number of ‘for no reason’ entries. As such, it is difficult to draw definitive conclusions from the data, however, we would anticipate that many would include self-isolations given the rapidly increasing number of COVID cases,” said Bird.
Asked if some parents chose not to log their children into virtual learning because it was too difficult to manage working from home with online learning, Bird said, “I haven’t heard that directly.”
“But I’m sure there are some parents within that data who chose to do that. Unfortunately, we do not have definitive hard data.”
For comparison, the TDSB provided absenteeism figures for an average day. On November 17, the top five reasons for full-day absences at elementary schools were illness: 3,655; others — 2,455; no reason: 2,272; family — 778 and medical appointment — 698. Meanwhile, in secondary schools, 4,195 did not give a reason, 620 said illness, 386 said another, 133 excused themselves and 106 had a medical appointment.
Numbers related to absenteeism are for all students, including those registered for in-person and online learning. As of November, about 144,000 elementary students were learning in person and 18,000 were learning virtually. At the secondary level, about 64,000 students attended face-to-face and 7,000 learned online.
Betty-Lynn Orton teaches at High Park Alternative Junior School, which has about 150 students in kindergarten through 8th grade, and says attendance was bad last week, but “it got even worse this week.”
Orton is a prep teacher, teaching gymnastics, drama, dance, and music to students in kindergarten through grade 3, and a special education resource teacher for grades 1-8.
Usually one or two children from the primary division are absent from their school. But since the start of remote learning, “it’s pretty remarkable how many kids aren’t there… There are some (absences) explained, but for a lot of them we don’t know.”
Last week, older students home alone were online during resource time “just for company… This week, I haven’t seen any.”
Orton suspects that parents are having a hard time juggling their children’s work and remote learning. This week, he noted that children are doubling up in households, meaning children from separate families are together to learn online, supervised by one parent, while the others work.
“I think a lot of (parents) are saying, ‘Let’s see how this plays out. If it’s a short time (of remote learning), it’s only a few days (of class) that have been missed,” says Orton, adding that online learning is “exhausting.”
Last week, Mississauga mother Amy Hekimgil-De Sousa signed her sons, ages six and four, into class. But it was a challenge for the boys, who did not want to participate. Not wanting to force them in front of the screen, Hekimgil-De Sousa kept them out of virtual learning this week. He told the school that they would be on vacation.
She has kept them up to date with the letters and numbers homework, so she is not worried about learning loss. What worries him most is the impact remote learning has on his social and mental well-being.
“They need their friends and teachers,” she says. “I was very happy when I found out that they were going back to school.”
TDSB TRUANCY NUMBERS:
January 5, 2022
ELEMENTARY
No Reason — 10,636
Others — 3,337
Disease — 1,238
Vacation — 1,025
family — 763
SECONDARY
No Reason — 5,212
Others — 160
Holidays — 152
Disease — 137
Toilet – 107
January 6, 2022
ELEMENTARY
No Reason — 8,158
Others — 3,160
Disease — 1,566
Vacation — 1,014
Family – 726
SECONDARY
No Reason — 4,792
Other — 212
Disease — 173
excused — 153
Holidays – 151
January 7, 2022
ELEMENTARY
No Reason — 9,050
Others — 3,578
Disease — 1,782
Vacation — 1,065
Family – 1,036
SECONDARY
No Reason — 5,307
Others — 272
Disease — 250
excused — 158
Holidays – 149
For comparison, here are counts for the top five reasons for full-day absences for November 17, 2021.
ELEMENTARY
Illness — 3,655
Others — 2,455
No Reason — 2,272
family — 778
Doctors – 698
SECONDARY
No Reason — 4,195
Disease — 620
Other — 386
excused — 133
Doctors – 106
Reference-www.thestar.com