TORONTO – Today, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) is calling on the Ford government to invest in student success and our publicly funded education system with its latest campaign, Say No to Hybrid Learning. After suffering the longest in-person learning disruptions in North America, Ontario’s students need this government to provide the resources and supports necessary for a learning recovery program that focuses on individual attention and student well-being.

Students learn best when they have the individual support and undivided attention from their teachers. The hybrid model puts teachers in an incredibly difficult position: forcing them to teach students in-person and online at the same time. Despite teachers’ best efforts, this splits their attention, compromising the learning experience for everyone. For online and in-person learners to succeed, the Ford government needs to make the investments to ensure classrooms are ‘in-person only’ or ‘online only.’

“Hybrid learning is not about giving families a ‘choice’ – it is about cutting costs,” says OECTA President Barb Dobrowolski. “Rather than support our students and remedy the losses of two years of disrupted learning, the Ford government plans to cut publicly funded education by $12.3 billion over the next decade and double down on the failed hybrid learning model, failing our students, teachers, and communities.”

The hybrid model widens classroom inequalities and disadvantages students, especially those from marginalized populations, those who do not have access to reliable technology or internet connection, and early learners who are not given the building blocks essential to their long-term educational success.

The hybrid learning model is just another way for the Ford government to cut costs instead of investing what is necessary to ensure that every student in Ontario gets the learning environment they need to succeed.

To learn more and write your MPP to Say No to Hybrid Learning, visit hybridfails.ca.