WINNIPEG -- Nearly 6,000 students in Manitoba will be homeschooled for the 2020/21 school year, a notable increase from previous years.
According to the Manitoba government, 3,808 students are in its homeschooling database as of Sept. 18. The province added there are still 1,960 registrations that need to be processed, bringing the total number of homeschooled students to 5,768.
This number is more than 2,000 more students than the province has seen in the last four schools years. In 2019/20 there were 3,689 students registered for homeschooling; in 2018/19 there were 3,708; in 2017/18 there were 3,643, and in 2016 there were 3,395.
Schools reopened on Sept. 8 in Manitoba after shutting down in March amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since then, several schools have reported cases of COVID-19, including Churchill High School, John Pritchard School, St. Maurice School, Emerson School, College Louis Riel, Garden City Collegiate, Meadows School, and Gladstone Elementary School.
