Ontario has announced its plan to get students back in the classroom, on time. Named Plan to Catch Up, the province vows to give students "the full school experience" which includes extracurricular activities – band, clubs, and field trips.
Minister of Education Stephen Lecce revealed that the plan will include "the largest tutoring program in history, a modernized skills-focused curriculum to prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow, and enhanced mental health supports."
Here are the five key components of the plan:
- Getting kids back in classrooms in September, on time, with a full school experience that includes extra-curriculars like clubs, band, and field trips;
- New tutoring supports to fill gaps in learning;
- Preparing students for the jobs of tomorrow;
- Providing more money to build schools and improve education; and
- Helping students with historic funding for mental health supports.
According to Lecce, the plan emphasizes getting back to basics and focuses on "strengthening life and job skills in the classroom, so that students graduate as financially literate, technologically savvy, emotionally intelligent leaders, ready for the jobs of tomorrow,"
The government also took the chance to remind people of "investments that are already benefitting students and educators":
- More than $26.6 billion in funding for the 2022-23 school year, the highest investment in public education in Ontario’s history.
- Investing more than $175 million for enhanced tutoring support programs delivered by school boards and community partners, with a focus on reading, writing and math.
- $304 million in time-limited funding to support the hiring of up to 3,000 front line staff, including teachers, early childhood educators, educational assistants, and other education workers.
- Investing $14 billion to build state-of-the-art schools and classrooms and renew and repair existing schools, including $2.1 billion for the 2022-23 school year.
- Allocating $90 million for mental health initiatives and supports for students, a 420 per cent increase from 2017-18.
- Additional funding to support students with exceptionalities through a $93 million increase in funding for the Special Education Grant and over $9 million in funding to support the new de-streamed grade nine program, with an emphasis on supporting students most at risk including students from racialized, Black, immigrant, and Indigenous communities.
The full Plan to Catch Up can be found online here.