VANCOUVER -- Only about 30 per cent of B.C. parents chose to send their kids back to school for part time, in-class learning this week, officials revealed Tuesday.
“This is an opportunity for kids to have. We can’t force it on everyone,” said Education Minister Rob Fleming. “People are going to want to make the right choices for their family based on the circumstances in B.C.”
If parents are waiting until September hoping circumstances will change and their kids can go back to class full time next school year, they’re probably out of luck.
“It’s likely that we will have to have a hybrid system again,” said Fleming. That means a mix of in-class and distance learning for most elementary and secondary school students.
“That’s one of the reasons why going back to school and having some in-classroom learning right now was so important, it’s helping us understand how we could do this,” said provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, who will ultimately make the call on what percentage of learning will be in class and what will remain online next school year.
If the partial return in June goes well and virus numbers remain low through the summer, Henry said B.C. will "absolutely" have more in-class learning. “But we will need some sort of a hybrid, and we’ll also need to have those provisions in place if we start to see cases arise in the community the school community," she added.
Parents can expect updates throughout the summer on what school may look like in September. “We will make an official call as to how strong the restart of school is going to look like come Labour day for the next school year a little closer to that date obviously around late August,” said Fleming.
