The 2016 - 2017 school year is over - and it was a rough one. The school year came to an end earlier this week after three extra days were tacked on at the end of the year - to make up for days missed due to a teachers' strike. Attendance during those extra days was poor, as might have been expected, since the school year was already over. Education Minister Patrick Faber said he would have wished that it were otherwise, but, regardless, he's keeping his hopes up for next year:...
Reporter
"So today should have been the official close of the school year but we've been getting reports that attendance has been pretty bad in terms of city schools. Did that kind of go against the whole idea of you guys increasing the contact days?"
Hon. Patrick Faber- Minister of Education, Youths, and Sports
"Well, you will remember that from the onset we were against putting on days to the end of the school year. If you recall, our initial proposal was for us to have days added on to the start of the Christmas break…sorry, the break after Christmas at the start of the calendar year. It was, I think, January, it may have been third, fourth and fifth; there were four days that would have been assigned there and we would have done the same at the end of the Easter break. But it didn't work out in our favor like that. I've always maintained that your make up time is not just added on anywhere. We had to make the best of the situation. Naturally, at the end of the school year, especially when all the schools aren't closing at the same time you have a different date, for instance for primary than you have for secondary. This inevitably would have happened. But all of this is spilt milk and we won't cry over that. I'm looking forward to a new and invigorating 2017-2018 school year."
Email
Print