Quebec school restart getting positive reviews
MONTREAL — Quebec’s closely watched experiment reopening schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic winds down next week as the summer break begins, and the reviews are largely positive so far.
The province was the first in the country to reopen schools after COVID-19 brought regular life to a standstill, with children outside the Montreal region heading back to class in mid-May.
The federation representing administrators of the French school system outside Montreal says that about twothirds of students returned to class once parents got comfortable with the idea.
The federation’s president, Nicolas Prevost, said things went relatively smoothly in the schools, though maintaining physical distancing on school buses was a particular challenge.
It will likely remain an issue in the fall — one that school boards across Canada have identified — if physical distancing requirements remain in place.
Quebec’s Education Department said in an email that as of June 5, roughly half of public school students and two-thirds of private school students that had reopened returned to class.
As Prevost looks ahead to the fall, the biggest concern is potential staffing shortages. He noted many teachers, due to health reasons, did not return to the classroom while others have opted for retirement given pandemic concerns.
“I can foresee some lack of personnel,” Prevost said, estimating that 15 per cent of staff won’t return as schools are expected to shift from online to full-time in a classroom.
Last week, Quebec Education Minister Jean-François Roberge said the province’s experience reopening schools gave it the confidence to move ahead with a full-time reopening of elementary and high schools in the fall.
There will be physical distancing and enhanced hygiene practices. And until Grade 10, classrooms will have “bubbles” of up to six children who won’t have to maintain a distance between each other.
Health authorities said those bubbles will make it easier to identify and contain any COVID cases in schools.
The Education Department said since the return to class, 53 students and teachers have been diagnosed with COVID19, but Roberge stressed this week the vast majority of those cases occurred outside the classroom, and there were no serious illnesses.
As of June 10, the province reported 10 students and 12 staff members were still ill.
Kevin Roy, head of the Quebec Federation of Parents’ Committees, said the reopening of schools for on-site instruction went well. But he added there are lessons to learn about remote teaching in the event a second wave of the virus hits.
A survey of parents by the federation found two-thirds said managing class schedules was a problem, either because they were working full-time from home or felt out of their element.