Official Opposition Education and Early Childhood Development Critic, Benoît Bourque is calling on the Higgs government to maintain the status quo in terms of high school students attending classes in person on a one-day-on-one-day-off basis because of the presence of the variants in the province.

“We have heard from many teachers, parents and students that returning to full week-in classroom instruction at this time is not advisable and should wait until September,” said Bourque.  “With so few days left in the school calendar, students’ preparations for exams and the considerable measures that will have to implemented to remain safe, this is just not the time.  The system is already stressed, and teachers, parents and students have expressed deep concerns about the possibility of going back.  A move to return to full-week in-person instruction risks becoming the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

Government had announced that high school students were to return to full in-person classes on April 19 but postponed the move in response to the arrival of highly transmissible COVID-19 variants in the province.