High school students in New Brunswick will not go back to in-person learning on a full-time basis until at least September.
Premier Blaine Higgs says the all-party COVID-19 cabinet committee and cabinet have decided not to return to full-time in-person learning this school year.
“Given what is going on around us, it just didn’t make any sense to change at this time,” Higgs said during a COVID-19 briefing Friday.
Earlier this week, the Opposition Liberals called on the Higgs government to continue with the current blended learning model because of the presence of COVID-19 variants in the province.
Education critic Benoît Bourque said teachers, students and parents had expressed deep concerns about the possibility of going back to class full time.
“We have heard from many teachers, parents and students that returning to full week-in classroom instruction at this time is not advisable and should wait until September,” Bourque said in a news release.
“With so few days left in the school calendar, students’ preparations for exams and the considerable measures that will have to implemented to remain safe, this is just not the time.”
High school students were expected to return to school full-time on April 12, but the province postponed their plans just two days before the return.
At the time, Public Health said this was done to allow more time to conduct contact tracing and ensure current COVID-19 outbreaks are under control.
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