The Ford government says primary schools will resume EQAO standardized testing this spring after a two-year pandemic induced hiatus, and officials say they are mandating that all school boards offer a fully-remote learning option again for the 2022-23 school year.
While in-person learning is the preferred option the province wants parents and pupils to select, Ministry of Education officials said they are mandating that all school boards keep a viable virtual option for parents to select if they choose to do so in Sept. 2022, given the evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said approximately 150,000 of the more than two million public school students in the province learned online this year.
“What we’ve heard from their parents and some educators is that is a strength for that small minority of children,” he said of why they are continuing to offer that option next year.
Starting sometime this spring, all Ontario primary schools will again engage in standardized tests in grades 3 and 6, after pausing this activity for two years.
Officials said this is necessary to assess where students are at in their learning after a tumultuous two years pockmarked by school closures.
Select high schools resumed standardized testing in the fall of 2021, with 140,000 high school students completing tests in Grade 9 for math or Grade 10 for literacy to date.
The overall funding for school operations, known as the annual Grants for Student Needs, will increase from $25.6 billion this school year to $26.1 billion for 2022-2023.
Ministry of Education officials also announced $176 million in additional tutoring funding for students both in-person and online, as well as an increase of $93 million to the $3.25 billion budget for special education in schools.
For its part, the Green Party of Ontario issued a statement saying EQAO standardized tests should be scrapped.
"The last thing students need added to their plates right now is the enormous pressure that comes with the EQAO testing process," said Matt Richter, a teacher running for the Greens in Parry Sound - Muskoka. "As a teacher, I see how stressed and anxious many students are after two years of uncertainty and learning disruption.”
