About a third of British Columbian students returned to school this week with about a month left in the school year.
According to the provincial government, 60,000 elementary, middle and secondary school students are participating in the province's gradual introduction of part-time, in-class instruction.
"We hope that the June restart is part of something that will help us have an even stronger start to school in September," said Minister of Education Rob Fleming June 2.
But classrooms and schools don't look normal, he said.
Elementary schools across the province are restricted to welcoming back up to 50 per cent of their student population on a given day. To date, Fleming says between 30 per cent and 35 per cent of students in Kindergarten through Grade 5 have returned. Middle schools and high schools, meanwhile, can only welcome up to 20 per cent of their students back per day.
The restrictions-intended to support physical distancing at B.C. schools-mean a secondary student who has returned to school will only receive up to one day of in-class instruction per week.
"We're going to keep the density of kids in schools at a very low, gradual level, no matter what," said Fleming. He added that 90 per cent of teachers have returned to schools.
As for what the new school year will look like, Fleming said a hybrid of in-class and online learning is likely.
To read the original story go here.
