Vancouver secondary students are in shock. In late November, the Vancouver School Board announced that high school students will be expected to attend school until summer break begins on June 27.
This change happened as a result of modifications to the School Act in November 2012.
According to North Vancouver's Carson Graham Secondary School website, these changes will also be implemented in June 2014 across the school district of North Vancouver. Previously, school districts were allowed to count exam days as part of the minimum instructional time; however, they no longer can include exams within the minimum instructional hours per year. This significantly changes the two-week exam period that usually precedes summer break.
The last two weeks of the school year have been used to study, attend tutorial sessions and write provincial exams. Nyika Jones, a Burnaby student, worries that it would be distracting trying to study in class and states that she "learns best studying at home." Another Burnaby student, Mirna Zaki, wonders what the teachers will do with the students during these "instructional hours"? The curriculum will be completed, the classrooms are hot and the students are especially restless.
In a letter dated Nov. 14, Vancouver parents were assured by the superintendent that educational opportunities would be offered during regular school hours throughout the month of June when students are not writing exams. Educational programming for self-contained special education and alternate programs was specifically clarified as continuing uninterrupted up to and including June 26.
Would continuing high school until the end of June involve more supervision of students than productive instructional time? Does this help or hinder students to prepare for post-secondary studies where they will be expected to be independent learners? Is there a problem with how time is being used during exam periods? The School Act changes have also allowed districts to create their own calendars rather than follow provincial schedules.
Burnaby school district has not yet announced how they will accommodate instructional hour minimums; perhaps they will come up with an innovative alternative.
– Kennedy Neumann, is a Grade 11 student in the Burnaby school district.
