NO MORE CELLPHONES! LESS TEACHERS?
- Blog Updates, Hear 2 Help You, Standard Blog
- back to school, cellphone, cuts hurt students, students, teachers
- September 8, 2019
NO MORE CELLPHONES! LESS TEACHERS?
It’s September and we all know what that means. Summer’s over and its back to school for all students and teachers. Prior to the start of the new school year, the Ford government had announced some changes to the education system. Although it remains to be seen how detrimental these changes will be, especially since we all know what happened the last time the Conservatives decided to make changes. Remember Michael Harris. All we do know is that teachers, parents and students will be in for a rough ride this year.
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Here are a list of changes.
Larger Class Sizes
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced early in 2019 that they plan to increase average class sizes by one student in Grades 4 -8 and from 22 to 28 in high schools. By increasing class sizes, approximately 4 000 teachers will lose their job as less teachers will be needed over the next four years.
“There are currently 125,979 teachers in Ontario, up from 112,000 in 2004. We’re up 13,000 teachers and 109,000 less students. I understand the NDP; they have it tough doing math as well. But it doesn’t add up. It doesn’t add up.”
— Doug Ford in the Ontario legislature
It is expected that larger classes will save the Ontario government $851 million over the next four years. Fulfilling a promise Doug Ford made to cut the budget.
New Teachers will take Math Tests
The Education Quality and Accountability Office administers standardized math tests in Ontario for grades 3, 6, and 9. Its latest data, released in August, stated that 61 per cent of Grade 3 students and 49 per cent of Grade 6 students met the provincial standard for math.
What’s wrong with these numbers you say. Well, both numbers have fallen steadily through the 2010s. In 2009, Grade 6 students had 63 per cent in 2009, while Grade 3 scores had 71 per cent in 2010. Prior to the 2010s, the scores were increasing favourably.
The scores from last year has prompted the PC government to not only revamp the math curriculum, but to have new teachers to be tested on the very same math concepts they teach throughout the year.
“Maybe the teachers should focus on learning math themselves, because we know one-third of those teachers can’t pass the same Grade 6 math test that they’re giving the students.”
— Doug Ford, in the Provincial legislature
Minister of Education Stephen Lecce has stated that the government will be investing in extensive training and coaching in over 700 targeted elementary and secondary school in hopes to provide educators with the support they will need.
No More Cellphones
As of November 4th, 2019 the use of cellphones and other personal mobile devices will be restricted in the classroom. The restrictions apply to classroom instruction, however exceptions will be made for health and medical purposes.
“When in class, students should be focused on their studies, not their social media,” said Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education. “That’s why we are restricting cellphones and other personal mobile devices in the classroom, while making sure technology is available to help students achieve success in the digital economy and modern workforce.”
Teachers do have some leeway here, as they can allow cellphones to be used for educational purposes.
Revised Health and Physical Education Curriculum
The province is introducing an enhanced and inclusive Health and Physical Education curriculum for Grades 1-8. As a result of these enhancements, the elementary Health and Physical Education curriculum will make Ontario a leader in teaching students about:
For more information on the revised curriculum please click here.
We hope this week’s show was an informative one. Thank you for tuning in. See y’all next week.
Also, don’t forget that you could check out our previous blogs here.
