The provincial government says it will end streaming in Grade 9.
The Ministry of Education says students will no longer be asked to chose between the “applied” or “academic” stream when they start high school.
The government says school board statistics show the practice has meant Indigenous and Black students are streamed into the applied classes in higher numbers and are less likely to earn a diploma than other students.
Premier Doug Ford says it’s not fair to divide students into separate paths which determine whether they are prepared for college, the trades, or university.
“You’re asking a 14-year-old child to make a decision in grade nine, for the rest of their high school career and post-secondary schools that they’re going to.”
Ford says “I just don’t think it’s right. It’s a broken system. We’ve heard nothing but positive remarks from communities and I’ve heard it from teachers. I’ve heard it from everyone across the board. So I think it’s a really good move for the parents and the students and the teachers.”
Education minister Stephen Lecce calls streaming racist and discriminatory and is expected to end by the 2021-22 school year.
The premier says an announcement to end the system and to make other curriculum changes will be made later this week.
The government is also expected to end suspensions for students in junior kindergarten to Grade 3.
Meantime, NDP leader Andrea Horwath says they have been calling for an end of the “applied” and “academic” practice for years.
“About time. I mean we were pushing the Liberals for a generation to get streaming out of our schools. I don’t know why they never acted on it. So I think this is something that is long, long, past due.”
Horwath says “Should have happened a long time ago but we need to support our public education system. Watching this government completely drop the ball on letting parents or kids or educators or anybody know what to really expect come September is really troubling.”
Horwath adds the Ford government hasn’t been great when it comes to supporting students and funding the education system.
(With files from Colin Redston-Thunder Bay and Tim Davidson-Kenora)
