Post-secondary life could be tough test for pandemic grads

Many students graduating high school this year haven't taken an in-person exam since Grade 10.

And that's just one of the new challenges the graduating class faces as its students prepare to enter post-secondary life after most of their high school education was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the class of 2022, restrictions to prevent spread of COVID-19 included cancelled labs, co-op placements, extracurricular clubs and sports. And "compassionate grading" policies meant many students received more lenient than normal assessments on assignments and tests. 

Outside of school, the pandemic even managed to derail the social lives of teenagers, and some senior high school students say after periods of forced isolation, they now find it difficult to make friends and interact with peers.

"I really don't know how prepared I feel for that journey after high school," said Evan Woo, a Grade 12 student at Earl Haig Secondary School in Toronto.

"I feel behind in my school learning [and] my social interactions," he said. "Having that robbed from us, it really sucks for sure."

Like other Ontario students, Woo has endured at least three extended school closures due to COVID-19 since 2020. The remote learning offered during that time was no substitute for in-person class, he said.

"Our structure right now [is] just textbook learning and looking at PowerPoint slides," said Woo, who is also a Toronto District School Board student trustee. "It's really lost that attention and passion and drive for learning, and I really hope we can bring that back."

Woo said his "real-life skills" also feel rusty and that he's not sure he's prepared for something as casual  as "hanging out with friends" at university.

Many university alumni can still recall the first time they walked into a massive lecture hall with hundreds of seats. The high school graduating Class of 2022 will do it after getting used to going to class alone in their bedroom.

"To just fathom sitting in a lecture hall with 500 students — I see that as a big challenge," Woo said.

Educators have said they worry that the upheaval in schools has left students under prepared for the demands of college and university.

A major factor is adjustments being made for grading and exams. With in-person tests impossible, teachers shifted to smaller assessments or open book exams, which don't require the same level of studying or knowledge retention.

"I think there are a lot of gaps in learning. A lot of it has to do with exam writing," said Michelle Pagniello, a child-and-youth worker with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation.