Thousands sign SFU students' petition for delayed return to classroom
A petition calling for Simon Fraser University to delay its scheduled return to in-person classes has gathered roughly 2,500 signatures in the four days since it launched.
SFU joined several other B.C. post-secondary institutions in beginning its current term remotely due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 throughout the province.
The University of British Columbia has since delayed its return to in-person classes a second time, with the return to classroom instruction for most students now scheduled for Feb. 7.
In-person classes at SFU are still scheduled to resume on Jan. 24, and that has left many students anxious, according to Jess Dela Cruz, vice president of events and student affairs for the Simon Fraser Student Society.
"There's a lot of students at SFU who are so scared and uneasy (and) have high anxiety about returning to in-person classes on Jan. 24," Dela Cruz told CTV News.
She said she's been hearing from students who are immunocompromised or live with people who are at a higher risk of complications from a COVID-19 infections.
Dela Cruz said the SFSS has been lobbying the university for more remote learning options, as well as better access to rapid testing and N95 masks for students.
She said students have been receiving emails from the university with information about COVID-19 safety, including things like tips on how to wear masks properly and reminders about physical distancing.
Dela Cruz said she finds the emails unhelpful.
"I have a lecture that is 100 people, and there are bigger lecture sizes, up to 300," she said, and wondered how she is supposed to maintain distance from others in such a setting.
"They're requesting us to do these things, but aren't giving us adequate support to do so," she added. "Remote learning is feasible. It's been done before. It's optionable, but SFU is pushing us to go back to in-person and it's extremely frustrating."
In a statement, the university said returning to in-person learning is important, and noted that the perspective articulated by the students signing the petition is not the only one SFU students hold.
"Amongst our student body we know that there are a very wide range of opinions and also preferences," the university said. "We are guided in our decision by public health expertise, our own data on student impact, and this important study on mental health impacts for young people done by the BCCDC."
Dela Cruz disagreed with the university's assertion about mental health, saying the anxiety of feeling unsafe at in-person activities is also detrimental to students' mental health, and is something the university could avoid by maintaining remote learning options.
"The two-week period of remote learning and teaching to start the term was to provide time to put learning and research continuity plans in place" SFU's statement continued.
"Faculty and staff groups have established plans to accommodate potential absences. Our layers of protection, including masks, distancing and hand washing, remain in place, and we have also completed extensive work on ventilation systems."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.