Horizon Weekly Exclusive Interview with The Honourable Stephen Lecce, Ontario’s Minister of Education
On July 2, Sarin Poladian, Senior Correspondent of Horizon Weekly, had a virtual interview with Ontario’s Minister of Education, The Honourable Stephen Lecce. Minister Lecce discussed what the school year would look like in September, the school boards were asked to be ready for three plans ranging from online learning to full resumption of in-class settings with enhanced safety and health protocols.
And when it came to the efficacy of virtual learning, the ministry heard overwhelmingly that there’s a need to standardize the experience for students. The minister realizes that online learning won’t replace the real positive value of in-class learning, but when there’s a challenge like a pandemic there won’t be a choice other than adopting online learning and improving its tools by September. Furthermore, the government is giving more access to technology by investing $15 million so that 37,000 computers can be bought for the coming school year to give students the tools they need to succeed.
Minister Lecce also talked about the safety protocols and the new guidelines in child-care centres. The ministry is providing more funding for additional PPE, cleaning and sanitizing materials. Moreover, the child care operators can get access to government funding as long as they don’t charge parents more than they did before the pandemic.
During the interview, the minister discussed about the importance of mental health and the well being of students. Through consultations, the government heard about the need for enhanced mental health support to respond to COVID-19, for which the government is significantly increasing investments to support mental health by giving the students direct access to regulated mental health professionals and significantly reducing wait times.
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