Premier John Horgan said the voluntary return of students into classrooms starting June 1st is being viewed as a dry run for the fall.
On Friday, the province announced Kindergarten to Grade 5 students will be attending classes half-time, while Grades 6-12 will only see 20% of students at any given time.
This means middle and secondary students will likely attend class one day per week.
In an exclusive interview with Vista Radio, Horgan admits the lion share of the work still needs to be done over the summer.
“It will look different in September. We need to reconfigure classrooms differently and we need to decide how much virtual learning we’re going to keep, for some kids it’s been a great way forward because they can plow ahead with their laptops and their iPads and for other kids, this has been less successful.”
However, the move has been met with some concern from parents suggesting the government would have been bettered served to start fresh in the fall.
Horgan stated this is being looked at as a practice session for when classes fully resume in September.
“This is an opportunity to do a dry run for September and I think it was the right. We’ll see, parents will make the final choice on what they do with their kids whether they send them back to class on a part-time basis in June or whether they keep them at home until September.”
The Premier added the province was satisfied with the feedback from stakeholders before making the final call on a limited return.
“We talked to stakeholders across the province including superintendents, teachers, support staff and almost everyone felt it would be important to get the kids back into school, the young ones especially in K to 5 just so that they remember school as a positive place and not a place to fear.”
On June 1, parents will have the option of sending their children to school part-time, with new health and safety measures implemented. BC’s Restart Plan outlines a gradual return to full-time classes by September, provided it is safe to do so. https://t.co/CLckQL4ctv #COVIDBC pic.twitter.com/5ul2FFlXoL
— BC Government News (@BCGovNews) May 15, 2020