Several of these buses passed Romana Siddiqui’s house as she pushed her children to school and distributed food and snacks for the day.
As stressful as the morning run may be, many Canadian parents are grateful for it. Through a dangerous second wave of the pandemic, Canada has managed to keep most schools open most of the time, even in its hardest hit Covid-19 hot spots.
“I’ll be honest, sometimes I’m still nervous about it,” said Siddiqui in an interview with CNN outside his children’s school, “But the quality of your learning is much better in the classroom, you can’t compare the virtual with o in the classroom. So that learning doesn’t really happen at home. “
As early as last spring, and supported by medical experts, Canadian provinces and territories, which are responsible for education, tried to maintain the often overlooked axiom; schools should be the last to close, the first to reopen.
The result has been an uneven patchwork with some jurisdictions offering virtual and face-to-face options, others imposing a hybrid model for older students.
Siddiqui’s 16-year-old son, Adam, the eldest of his 3 children, had on-site learning this school year, but is now virtual.
“For the next year, I just hope we’re back in person,” says Adam, describing a school experience that has been far from normal, either in person or online.
Less than an hour’s drive from Mississauga, Mark Witter is making his rounds during recess, reminding children to “stay in their zones”.
But, except for the masks, even outside, the images and sounds are extremely comforting, the children basking in the winter sun and clearly happy to be with their friends at school.
“I was very excited about their return. But it was different. We worked to build a great understanding with students and families and just explaining what our new routines were, but also trying to make sure things were as typical as they could be” , said Witter, director of the São Francisco de Assis Catholic Primary School in the Halton region of Ontario.
The protocols follow the guidelines established by the provinces, school councils and local public health officials. Students at this school in Georgetown, Ontario, are in groups for classes and recess, there is a detailed Covid-19 screening procedure for educators, students and visitors, and wearing a universal mask inside and outside the school.
When classrooms across the country were scheduled to reopen en masse last September, even Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, admitted that it was a difficult decision for his family.
“We are looking at what the school plans are. We are looking at class sizes. We are looking at how children feel about wearing masks,” Trudeau said during a news conference last summer, adding, “Like so many parents, this is something that we are in very active discussions about. “
Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, finally decided on personal learning for their 3 children attending public schools in the Ottawa area.
But the reality of keeping everyone in school and avoiding the virus was a challenge weeks after the school reopened in September.
Witter says that 2 classrooms have been sent home for two weeks of virtual learning and seven positive cases have been identified. But the school remained open.
From British Columbia to Ontario and Quebec, Canada’s leading provincial doctors said that schools have not been a significant source of the spread of the virus and that outbreaks in educational settings reflect the level of transmission in the wider community.
Witter also credits students for helping to keep schools open while they learn and adapt to the “science” that is now part of their daily curriculum.
“They keep the masks, follow the instructions of the teachers, wash their hands. And so, it has been a really pleasant thing to see and exciting to see, that the students themselves have committed themselves to public health measures as well, “says Witter.
Almost universally, the government and educational leaders praised teachers during this pandemic, many of whom carried much of the burden to ensure that students were safe, happy and still learning.
Armed with a face shield and mask and a seemingly unshakable spirit, Andrea O’Donnell organizes and cleans her kindergarten class in São Francisco de Assis. She admits that she does not believe that security protocols work well enough to keep schools open.
“How am I going to do this? How am I going to keep these masks on for all those 4 and 5 year olds? How are they going to get physically apart?” she says adding, “And then I thought, you know, we teach these kids, you know, I’m competent, capable. Yes, we can do that. And yes, we did that.”
O’Donnell says her classroom, school and school board are “living proofs” that keeping children learning personally can be done and she adds that there are good reasons to try.
“Am I worried about catching Covid? Yes,” she says, “I prefer to be in the classroom. You know, I was very happy when we were able to return. Just seeing their faces again, it’s just, it just brings a lot more joy to be with them. “
Canadian unions representing educators across the country have been speaking out about demands for more PPE, smaller classes, more teachers and better ventilation for schools.
Although the issues were controversial, the worst scenarios of dangerous Covid-19 outbreaks in schools were largely avoided.
“It’s a mix of things. I mean, there were certainly occasional closings and general closings. But you know, we totally agree with the prospect that schools should be a high priority to keep schools open,” said Harvey Bischof, president of the Federation. of Ontario High School Teachers.
This collaborative approach to keeping schools open is far from perfect, but the commitment has been its hallmark through two deadly waves of viruses and blockages and closures.
“It has been stressful, it has been emotional at times. We just had to realize that and let go of many expectations, ”says Siddiqui.