
Relief, resignation and disappointment as N.W.T. students return to online learning
CBC
There's a mixture of relief, resignation and disappointment from students, parents and teachers, as schools across the N.W.T. return to online learning this week.
On Thursday evening, the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer (OCPHO) released a public health advisory alerting N.W.T. residents that community spread of COVID-19 was evident or imminent in eight communities: Aklavik, Behchokǫ̀, Dettah, Fort Providence, Hay River, Ndilǫ, Whatì, and Yellowknife.
Dr. Kami Kandola recommended schools postpone classroom learning until Jan. 21, when the current gathering restrictions are set to end.
On Thursday and Friday, school boards sent out emails and notices on social media, advising parents their schools would be moving to online learning for at least the next two weeks. That included all schools in the eight communities identified in the public health advisory.
All Tłı̨chǫ schools also went to remote learning, as did Ehtseo Ayha School in Délı̨nę. The Beaufort Delta Divisional Education Council said its schools would move online from Jan. 10 to 14.
Andrea Sluggett said she expected her children would probably go back to remote learning after the holidays, as COVID-19 cases increased last month.
"I told my kids before they left school for Christmas break: bring home your books, bring home anything you're going to need if you switch to online learning, because we don't want to go back to school to get it," she said.
Sluggett has four children in Yellowknife schools, one in Grade 10 and triplets in Grade 7. She said her oldest child, who attends Sir John Franklin High School, is worried about the activities and opportunities she's missing out on at school.
"You can tell that she's disappointed that she's not going to get the things that she wanted to get done this semester … in order to have that reflect on her records," she said.
Samantha Stuart is a project manager with the territorial government. But since November 2020, her Yellowknife home has become her office.
She said it's a challenge to stay on top of her own work, while helping her three children, two in Grade 1 and one in Grade 4, get through their school days at home.
That's especially true when they're all online simultaneously. Stuart has to make sure each child is set up with their own device for their online class "and preferably headphones," she said.
"Sometimes I'll have a meeting at the same time, so I can't supervise them."
Later on, she said she'll sometimes get reminders from teachers about behaviour expectations for her children online.