Many Manitoba schools will remain in remote learning until end of school year
Many students in the province will have to close out the school year by learning at home.
The province announced all Kindergarten to Grade 12 schools in Winnipeg, Brandon, Garden Valley, and Red River Valley school divisions will remain in remote learning until the end of the school year.
Education Minister Cliff Cullen said students in these areas will be allowed to meet with teachers in small groups starting June 14, unless Public Health says otherwise.
These groups will be able to receive in-person support, clinical support, assessments, and transition planning.
Other schools in the province that have switched to remote learning individually can reopen after being assessed by Public Health.
Dr. Jazz Atwal, Manitoba’s deputy chief provincial public health officer, said 21 per cent of COVID-19 cases are in school-aged kids.
"It's important to note these individuals may not have caught the virus at school though, they may have contracted the virus from a household contact or through community transmission," he said.
Atwal added there have been 335 cases linked to schools in the last 14 days prior to May 30, and 170 schools have one or more cases.
"Our case numbers aren't where they need to be. Our acute-care system numbers are still high and we still need to worry about that and we're going to have to continue worrying about it for the next few weeks as well. So we looked at all that information, I felt this was the best way to continue forward," he said.
With students finishing another year not in the classroom, Cullen was asked how the province plans to ensure students are caught up next year.
"Clearly, we're allowing a couple of weeks here at the end of the school year for teachers to interact with their students and parents, and make sure that we understand where the students are at so the assessment protocols are certainly in place," Cullen said.
"We recognized there's going to be some catch up required next fall. So we have made allowances for school divisions to provide that extra learning capacity."
The minister added that the duration of time the small groups will need to be in the school will be left up to each individual teacher, noting that the teachers know their students best.
Asked why this announcement wasn't made last week when the province extended the remote learning process by a week, Cullen said it is hard to know what the future holds.
"We were optimistic that the numbers would go down, the pressure might be less on our health-care system," he said.
When it comes to next year, Atwal was asked if Manitobans can expect to see students back in the classroom.
"Vaccine uptake is paramount in our ability to get back to some of those things that we love do," Atwal said. "The vaccination program, vaccines, are going to be able to provide that glimmer of hope that we're going to get back to some normalcy."
He added that the next school year is still a long ways away, but he thinks the province will be in a better spot in the fall than it is right now.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada to see warm summer, wildfire risks loom for some regions: forecast
Get ready to feel the heat, Canada. Weather experts are predicting more sunshine and warmer temperatures for the summer.
'It was hell': Israeli mother held hostage with her children describes 51 days in captivity
Hagar Brodutch, her three children and four-year-old neighbour were kidnapped by Hamas-led militants from their home in Kfar Aza, Israel on Oct. 7 and held for 51 days. They were released in November, but Brodutch says her thoughts are never far from those still being held in Gaza.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.
3 Israeli soldiers killed in Rafah booby trap explosion, media say, as offensive widens
The Gaza health ministry called on Wednesday for ensuring safe pathways for the immediate entry of fuel and medical aid to Rafah and northern Gaza, according to a statement carried by Hamas media quoting spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qudra.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
Introducing peanut butter during infancy can help protect against a peanut allergy later on, new study finds
New evidence suggests that feeding children smooth peanut butter during infancy and early childhood can help reduce their risk of developing a peanut allergy even years later.
The double-level airplane seat is back. This time, there's a first-class version
It’s the airplane seat design that launched a thousand memes and kickstarted a media storm. And now the double-level seat is back – only this time, with a twist.
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus survives vote calling for his ouster
Greg Fergus survived a vote to oust him as House of Commons Speaker on Tuesday, but with close to half of MPs expressing a loss of confidence in him, he faces a precarious path forward in maintaining order in Parliament.