Not all university students in Manitoba ready to return to the classroom

A return to the classroom is not sitting well with some post-secondary students at the University of Manitoba.

U of M students are set to return to campus following the winter break, which finishes at the end of the month.

"There have been lots of discussions around the student body about how things could be going wrong, and how it might just be a little too early for this," said first-year computer studies student Brayden Burak.

The concerns are related to the health and safety of staff and students. Burak said that with a student body in excess of 30,000 people, he wonders if COVID-19 prevention protocols like social distancing will even be possible.

Then there’s the question of students following self-isolation requirements. He worries if remote learning is not an option, some COVID-positive students may choose to keep going to class to avoid falling behind.

The issue has bigger implications for international students who have to make the choice to return to Canada with the hope in-person instruction will resume or gamble online learning will continue and remain in their country.

One solution, according to Burak, would be increased student consultation.

“Sometimes it feels like the student opinion isn’t taken as much into account as we would like,” Burak said.

"We should just keep the rest of that term online instead of halfway going back and whatnot,” said Burak. “I've conducted a few polls on different social media platforms and messaging, messaging apps and the consensus seems to be that about 70 to 85 per cent of students do want it to remain online."

In a statement to CTV News, a spokesperson for the U of M said, “We are continuing to evaluate plans based on the latest public health information in order to make a determination on our activity after the end of winter term break. Updates will be communicated as soon as they are available.”

The University of Winnipeg says it will continue to deliver most of its courses remotely until the end of the winter term in April.

In a statement, university officials said they have chosen to minimize disruption in people's lives and reduce the possibility of transmission.

It said recent surveys showed close to 80 per cent of students and 70 per cent of faculty and staff prefer to remain remote for the duration of this semester.

The University of Brandon is going forward with a phased-in approach, with classes with the highest need for in-person instruction returning earlier and others staying remote until after Reading Week.

- With files from CTV's Jon Hendricks