Students and teachers in Ontario will get their March Break in April as Canada’s largest province is seeking ways to limit community transmissions of COVID-19 and its new more contagious variants.
The week-long break, which was originally scheduled for March 15-19, will now take place on the week of April 12th, Ontario’s Education Minister, Stephen Lecce, announced Thursday, speaking alongside Health Minister Christine Elliott and Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health.
“It is of the utmost importance that we do not travel at this time,” he said later, noting the province doesn’t want to see another spike in cases like it did around the December holiday break.
“I recognize that this is one more change in a year that has been challenging for so many students and our education staff who continue to work so hard, but is one made on the best advice of public health officials to keep them safe, and to keep our schools open in this province,” Lecce added.
Students in Ontario have been gradually returning to schools for in-person classes over the last several weeks.
“This postponement also limits any further disruption to students as they could return to in-person learning during a time that has been challenging,” Lecce said.
The announcement also comes as Ontario health officials unveiled new pandemic modeling, which warned that despite the steadily declining number of infections, Ontario could see a third wave of the virus and another round of lockdowns if the new variants take hold in the province.
Provincial health officials said by Feb. 10 they had identified 236 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant first found in the U.K. and three cases of the B.1.351 variant first identified in South Africa.
Of particular concern for provincial health authorities was the fact that only only 8.4 per cent of the U.K. variant infections were linked to travel. Nearly 80 per cent of cases were associated with an outbreak or a close contact of a confirmed case, and in nearly 11 per cent of cases no epidemiological link was found, according to data released by Public Health Ontario.
Ontario’s four teachers’ unions said they strongly oppose the government’s plan to postpone March Break.
In a joint statement, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF), the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) and the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO) said the government’s decision “does not take into consideration the mental health and well-being of those involved.”
“These are unprecedented times, and this is a much-needed break for students, teachers, education workers, and families who have been under tremendous pressure throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” the statement said.
With files from CBC News
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