Ontario, the most populous province in Canada and the most affected by the pandemic, is pushing back the spring school holidays by one month to try to stop community transmission of the coronavirus, the Minister of Education announced on Thursday.
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Some two million public elementary and secondary school students who were hoping for a break in the week of March 15 will have to wait until the week of April 12, Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce said at the meeting. 'a press conference.
The decision, he said, was made following public health recommendations to
"protect teachers and students
.
"
The opposition, teachers 'and parents' unions demanded that the vacation be maintained on schedule, citing the exhaustion of students and staff after weeks of distance learning.
"It is very important not to travel at this time,"
said Stephen Lecce, recalling that schools had to close after
"a massive increase"
in Covid-19 cases following the holiday of the end of the year holidays.
Anger of the unions
The four main teachers' unions in the province immediately accused the government of making
"irresponsible"
decisions
and ignoring expert advice.
"In these unprecedented times, students, families and workers of education, which have been subjected to enormous pressure throughout the pandemic Covid-19, badly need a break"
, they insist in a joint statement.
Students have just returned to school in several regions of Ontario and those in Toronto have yet to do so on February 16.
The number of infections in Ontario has been falling sharply for more than two weeks, but public health officials said Thursday they feared a rise before the end of the month with the increase in cases of variants of the virus, which are more contagious.
The British variant is expected to soon
"dominate"
in the province, said Ontario public health official David Williams.
Meanwhile, the island province of Newfoundland, in the country's far east, has announced that it is postponing its Saturday legislative elections sine die in 18 of the 40 electoral districts, due to a surge in new cases and the resignation of dozens of poll workers fearing to contract the virus.
