Big changes in Ontario’s education system
4/21/202620 min
Last week, Ontario introduced new legislation proposing sweeping changes to education in the province – from how school boards are managed, to having attendance make up part of final grades for high school students. This is the latest in a string of changes that serve to centralize oversight over Canada’s largest education system.
The Globe’s education reporter, Dave McGinn, joins the show to talk about why Ontario says it’s introducing these changes, and what parents and teachers want to see going forward.
Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com
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First 90 secondsCheryl Sutherland· Host0:00
[chime] Last week, Ontario introduced new legislation proposing sweeping changes to education in the province. [upbeat music] From how school boards are managed to making attendance a mandatory part of final grades for high school students. This is just the latest in a string of big changes that looks to centralize oversight of the education system. It's being led by Ontario's Minister of Education, Paul Calandra. In the last school year, there were two million students in Ontario's public school system. That's more than a third of the total public student population across Canada. So today, the Globe's education reporter, Dave McGinn, is here. He'll explain why the province said it's introducing these changes and what parents and teachers want to see. I'm Cheryl Sutherland, and this is The Decibel from The Globe and Mail. [upbeat music] Hi, Dave. Thanks so much for joining me today.
Dave McGinn· Guest1:06
Thank you for having me.
Cheryl Sutherland· Host1:07
So first off, Dave, can you give us a kind of high-level sense of the big things that have changed in Ontario over the past year?
Dave McGinn· Guest1:13
Big, big changes in Ontario over the past year. It started last April when the province put one school board under supervision. Then in June, it put another four under supervision, including the TDSB, which is the biggest school