In welcome news for many students and staff, the provincial government has announced it will allow high schools to return to a regular semester system in the new year – or potentially even sooner.
That will allow schools to resume timetabling of four courses per day for secondary students.
High schools can currently schedule students into only two courses a day, a rule the government introduced last year to make it easier to maintain separate cohorts to reduce spread of COVID-19.
That required students to alternate classes of almost three hours each.
The change comes partly thanks to high rates of vaccination amongst youth, the province said in an announcement Thursday. Just over 80 per cent of Ontario residents aged 12 to 17 are fully vaccinated, according to provincial numbers.
The decision to move back to the regular schedule in February will be up to school boards.
The move can be made earlier, with approval from local medical officers of health, the province said.
