Seventy per cent of students were either exempted from or opted out of the online credit requirement
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared on The Trillium, a Village Media website devoted exclusively to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park.
The very first graduating class subject to the Ford government’s e-learning mandate overwhelmingly rejected it, according to new data obtained by The Trillium through a freedom of information request.
The policy, introduced in 2019 as a leap into the future of digital literacy, states that beginning with the cohort entering Grade 9 in 2020, every Ontario student needs to successfully complete two online credits to earn their diploma.
But according to records tracking the 2023-24 graduates, almost 70 per cent bypassed the requirement entirely.
104,313 were marked as “Not Applicable” due to exemptions or opt-outs, while just 46,092 graduates successfully completed the online credits.
The data marks the first public accounting of how the mandate played out among graduating students.
‘Ongoing rejection’ of policy from its beginnings: researcher
One researcher said the numbers are proof that the policy is unpopular, and isn’t working for Ontario students.
“Parents don’t want their children to take it,” said Beyhan Farhadi, an assistant professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE).
When the Ford government originally proposed the policy, the plan was a strict four-credit requirement. Following pushback from teachers’ unions, students and parent advocacy groups, the province dialed the requirement back to two credits and added a loophole: parents could sign a form to opt out.
“There has been an ongoing rejection of it, because it’s understood widely to not meet the needs of all students, and it is viewed as a way of functioning to cut costs to the education system,” she said, explaining virtual classes, which allow for larger class sizes, require less funding than in-person classes.
Farhadi said Ontario is an outlier in Canada, and that no other jurisdiction has imposed an e-learning requirement.
Students say most classmates have opted out
The Trillium spoke with four grade 12 students at Riverdale Collegiate Institute in Toronto who said practically all of their classmates have opted out of the e-learning requirement.
“Everyone does. If you go to the office, literally, it’s one of the forms on the desk,” Priya said.
“It just feels impractical. I don’t want to go down to the library and then get on my e-class. It feels very strange,” Margo said. “I’m actually surprised it’s only 70 per cent.”
“I just decided to opt out because it’s a hassle that I don’t really want to do,” Sam said. “I’d rather just come to school every day regularly instead of doing online learning.”
Some students said that it does offer flexibility and the option to choose different teachers. But they add it could serve as a shortcut.
“It’s a lot easier overall, like you don’t have to put in that much effort, to be honest,” James said.
In one study of online learning, Farhadi said students used it as a way of “gaming the system.”
“Often they would take it as a response to failing an in-person class, or they would take it in anticipation of an in-person class that they knew would be challenging for them,” Farhadi said.
Unions call on Ford government to end the mandate
Some union leaders have recently called on the Ford government to end the mandate.
“Students want to be in school, they want to be in class with their peers, they thrive better when there’s interaction with their teachers and classmates, and hands-on learning and extracurriculars, and just being part of the school community,” said Martha Hradowy, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation.
Hradowy argues the education minister is undermining his own efforts to reduce screen time in schools, as he explores banning cell phones on school properties.
“He can’t speak out of both sides of his mouth, and then you know, still have mandatory e-learning as a requirement here in Ontario,” she said. “Quite simply, it is just a way to reduce costs for secondary school education.”
But Paul Calandra’s office said this requirement will help students reach their full potential.
“Recognizing the importance of technology in our daily lives, including in work and education, the government introduced the online learning graduation requirement to ensure high school students are developing digital literacy and other important transferable skills,” Emma Testani, the minister’s press secretary, said in a statement.
“The evidence collected to-date shows no significant difference in student achievement in online and face-to-face classrooms,” she added.
The ministry data showed an overall 90 per cent pass rate and 10 per cent failure rate across online courses completed by graduates, but the province did not provide equivalent data for in-person courses.
—With files from Sneh Duggal
