By April of 2020, approximately 1.4 billion students were learning from home in 190 countries, according to Human Rights Watch.
This, of course, included students in Squamish, most of whom didn't return to school after spring break.
An estimated 90% of the world's school-aged children had their education disrupted by the pandemic, according to the organization's startling report, ."
But what about grades in 麻豆社国产and the Sea to Sky?
At a public school board meeting in May, Howe Sound Secondary vice-principal Antony Blaikie, mentioned there had been a dip in grades for HSS students achieving a C+ or better in Math courses on final report cards for the 2019-2020 school year.
Blaike attributed the decrease of this percentage to COVID, and stated that this "COVID drop" applied across English, Math, Socials, and Science courses in grades 10 to 12 at Howe Sound.
But assistant superintendent Christopher Nicholson told The Chief last week that the district has since crunched the numbers further.
The result is a more positive and detailed analysis of how things went in the 2019-2020 school year overall.
(It should be noted that the data only covers those achieving a C+ or better. The school district does not share data of grades below that marker.)
For Grade 10 students at Howe Sound Secondary, the percentage of students achieving a grade of C+ or greater on their final report card in English, Math, Science and Socials was lower when compared to Grade 10s the year before.
For Grade 11 and 12 at Howe Sound, the data was more variable.
For Grade 11s, there was a dip in the percentage of students achieving a C+ or better in English and Socials courses, but an increase in the percentage of students achieving a C+ or better in Math and Science courses.
For Grade 12s at the high school, there was a slight drop in the percentage of students achieving a C+ or greater in English courses, but an increase in the percentage of students achieving a C+ or better in Math, Science, and Social Studies courses.
District-wide Data
In terms of the Sea to Sky School District as a whole, Nicholson said according to district-wide data for the 2019-2020 school year there was, overall, a slight dip in the percentage of students in Grade 10 achieving a C+ or better in English, Math, Socials, and Science courses.
For Grade 11s district-wide, the results were variable across courses.
Math 11 and Science 11 courses showed an increase in the percentage of students in Grade 10 achieving a C+ compared to Grade 10s the year before.
English 11 and Socials 11 courses showed an increase in the percentage of students in Grade 10 achieving a C+ compared with Grade 10s the year before.
For Grade 12s district-wide, the percentage of students achieving C+ or better was higher than the year before in English, Science, and Math courses. There was a slight dip in Socials courses.
"For this 2020-21 school year, we are compiling all of our year-end data and are getting very encouraging results in Grades 10 to 12 regarding the percentage of students achieving C+ or better on their final report card, both at HSS and district-wide, demonstrating how well our students have responded to everyone's collective efforts this school year, such as our secondary schools remaining open for 100% in-class instruction, the amazing work of our incredible district and school-based staff, all the supports put in place to ensure a safe learning environment, the support of our parents — and of course all our students' efforts to stay safe and work hard," Nicholson said.
The district will be updating the data on its website for the return to school in the fall.
Nicholson stressed that when school resumes, there will be a focus on identifying students' needs and filling any gaps in learning that occurred due to the pandemic.
The bigger picture
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Education told The Chief that it has a robust research program underway to better understand the effects of the pandemic on students.
"We know there is no substitute for in-class learning and we are proud to have kept schools open and safe for this entire school year while most jurisdictions did not," reads an emailed statement from the Ministry.
"Keeping schools open has been our priority. School is the best place for the social and emotional wellbeing of children; it is also where they receive important supports like meal programs, mental health services and learning and disability-related supports."
In June, the Ministry announced $43.6 million to support students and staff to return to school this September, $18 million of which is earmarked to look at how students were impacted by the pandemic and provide support resources to address any negative impacts.
"School districts are taking a range of approaches based on their local circumstances and their student learning needs."
The Ministry is also engaged in a multi-phase research project to better understand the effects of COVID-19.
"We are continuing discussions with our education partners to support school districts and independent schools to identify students who may need further support and address learning impacts as a result of the pandemic," the statement reads.
What about post-secondary entrance?
All of B.C.'s post-secondary institutions are planning to welcome students back to in-person learning this fall, but what has the pandemic meant in terms of what is expected of students in the fall?
The Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training acknowledged that students have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, but says that from what it has heard from universities and colleges in the province, students' grades have increased overall in B.C., though there may be exceptions in specific school districts.
And enrolment to post-secondary has not declined, despite these strange times for young people.
"We are not aware of any decline in post-secondary enrolment for 2021/2022," a spokesperson for the Ministry said in an email to The Chief.
"In fact, post-secondary enrolment is at or near the same as pre-pandemic levels. We are consistently monitoring enrolment with post-secondary institutions. Our priority has always been, and continues to be, the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff at our post-secondary institutions."
