Happy National Indigenous Peoples Day!
Cree School Board completes a unique academic year during pandemic
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hile in-class instruction for this school year was suspended in March, the Cree School Board (CSB) has remained busy supporting students throughout this unprecedented period. With a new online learning platform (OLP) and other support services to administer, it has been a learning experience for everyone. The submission deadline for Secondary 1 to 3 OLP assignments was June 5, though it was extended an extra week to June 12 for Secondary 4 and 5 students. As an extraordinary measure, certain students in these upper levels who are very close to completion also received extra in-class tutoring support. “The executive committee passed a resolution to allow certain students into the schools to get some in-person support with teachers,” said CSB chairperson Sarah Pash. “We worked that out with public health and have really strict protocols in place to do that. This is a special measure so that we’re able to reach every student we possibly can before we have to submit their results to the ministry for this term.” Public health agreed that this was an essential service because it involves people’s futures. To ensure
6 the Nation June 19, 2020 www.nationnews.ca
adequate physical distancing in respect of pandemic precautions, there was a very limited number of students involved with close supervision of handwashing and contact with classroom materials. While Pash hopes these additional efforts will get as many students as possible on track for graduation, it’s less clear how the CSB will support those still needing credits. Quebec’s Ministry of Education is not offering their typical makeup exams this summer and in-class summer school is not yet possible. Although most students impressively adapted to online learning when Covid-19 arrived, about one-quarter of Sec 5 and a larger number of younger students haven’t engaged with the OLP. This is partly a result of technological barriers, such as lacking home internet access, but some students and their parents have decided to wait until in-person classes resume. “Online learning is not for everybody and we recognize that,” Pash told the Nation. “It’s not ideal as the sole way of offering learning experiences – that’s something we need to respect. We’re here to meet the needs of diverse learners and we have to support each individual student in the best way possible.”
