Ontario is first province to make mental health lessons mandatory in Grade 10
Tuesday, May 2nd, 2023
Now, the government will be providing consistent, required learning materials on mental health in Grades 7 and 8, including videos and activities about how to handle and recognize stress. In Grade 10, students — as part of the mandatory career studies — will be taught the signs of anxiety and being overwhelmed, and where to go for help.
Tags: budget, mental Health, participation, youth
Posted in Education Delivery System | No Comments »
Supporters fight to keep midwifery program in northern Ontario
Monday, April 26th, 2021
… approximately 27 per cent of families who choose midwifery care are unable to access it — and far more so in the north… in northern Ontario, some 60 per cent of midwives are Laurentian graduates, and more than 90 per cent of Francophone midwives practising in places such as Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Hearst and Attawapiskat First Nation… the program was in the black this year and that a petition to keep it going has more than 20,000 signatures.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, standard of living, women
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Ontario pledges $106.4M for university, college COVID-19 costs
Saturday, March 20th, 2021
The Council of Ontario Universities (COU) estimates its 21 members have spent or lost $1 billion during the pandemic, but found $500 million in one-time savings. It has said there is “an urgent need for sector-wide cost recovery.” … “while this targeted and time-limited investment will help address some urgent and immediate costs, it does not address the significant long-term financial needs of the sector.”
Tags: budget, ideology
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Province to scrap controversial teacher hiring rule
Thursday, October 15th, 2020
The Ontario government is going to… scrap a controversial hiring rule that gives preference to supply teachers with the most seniority… After years of complaints from boards and principals about Regulation 274 — which essentially forces them to hire from among a small group of teachers who have spent the most time on the supply list… Education Minister Stephen Lecce… prefers that schools hire the best fit for the job.
Tags: ideology, participation, rights
Posted in Education Delivery System | No Comments »
School pandemic plans don’t work for working parents, province told
Thursday, July 9th, 2020
Other jurisdictions are thinking outside the box so students aren’t simply divvied into groups and told to attend classes half-days or every other day — and Ontario should be too… The “hybrid” model of in-class and online learning “leaves working parents with young children, single-parent households and low-income families in the precarious position of having to choose between educating their children and their own employment,”
Tags: child care, economy, featured, Health, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Ontario to end streaming in Grade 9 and change other ‘racist, discriminatory’ practices
Monday, July 6th, 2020
The Ontario government plans to end streaming in Grade 9 — a long-standing practice that research has found disproportionately impacts Black and low-income students and severely limits their chance of graduating and going on to post-secondary education… The province will also introduce a ban on suspending younger, elementary-school kids — Black students are again disproportionately affected — and improve diversity in hiring and promotions.
Tags: featured, ideology, multiculturalism, participation, youth
Posted in Education Policy Context | No Comments »
Ontario expands emergency child care to include families of grocery-store workers, truck drivers
Thursday, April 30th, 2020
“While our front-line workers are looking after us, we need to make sure we’re looking after them and their families,” Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday… The workers now to be covered also include those employed in meat packing and other food supply businesses, members of the armed forces, truck drivers, cooks and cleaning staff in health-care facilities and nursing homes, and on-site staff in Ontario’s courts.
Tags: budget, child care, economy, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Ontario bans fees for daycares closed during COVID-19 shutdown
Saturday, April 11th, 2020
The province is now “temporarily preventing child-care centres from collecting payments from parents, while also ensuring that their child-care spaces are protected… We need to support our parents who may be facing reduced income or layoffs during the COVID-19 outbreak.” The province said the order “immediately prevents any child-care operator from charging parent fees where care is not being provided,” exempting those that recently opened to provide care for the kids of front-line workers.
Tags: child care, economy, jurisdiction
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Ontario unleashes record spending for COVID-19 pandemic with $17B in emergency measures
Wednesday, March 25th, 2020
Finance Minister Rod Phillips on Wednesday injected $3.3 billion more into health plus $3.7 billion for other supports and promised an additional $10 billion in tax deferrals, doubling the deficit to $20.5 billion… “COVID-19 is an extraordinary threat to the health and economy of Ontario…” “We will spend whatever it takes,” Ford told reporters.
Tags: budget, economy, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Catholic teachers’ contract deal provides $33M for special education
Wednesday, March 25th, 2020
The OECTA deal, which ends Aug. 31, 2022, keeps class sizes as they are for kindergarten to Grade 3 and slightly boosts the average size of classes to 24.5 students for Grades 4 to 8. Because some Catholic boards had larger class sizes — and because the tentative deal says exceptions will no longer be allowed — additional teachers will be hired in some areas… As for mandatory e-learning… two credits are still required for graduation but the government also agreed to an opt-out policy.
Tags: budget, disabilities, ideology, youth
Posted in Education Delivery System | No Comments »
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