Toronto/CMEDIA: Ontario parents are being urged by Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra not to pull their kids out of school for sports tournaments next year, when new attendance rules begin.
Attendance and participation starting in the upcoming school yearwill make up either 10 or 15 percent of a final mark depending on the grade.
Whereas in Grades 9 and 10, attendance and participation will be 15 percent of a final mark, in Grades 11 and 12 it will be 10 percent.
In the event of more than two unexcused absences by students, they wouldn’t be able to get that full 15 or 10 percent.
Excused absences normally include illnesses and holy days, and
parents are allowed to excuse their children from school for a weekend hockey tournament that begins on a Friday, for example, but Calandra says he doesn’t want that to be the norm.
Attendance rates in Ontario high schools, says Calandra are among the worst in the country, and something must be done.
“My advice to parents is, keep them in school...Education should be their priority. We’re going to monitor this over the next year, as I said last week, and if we have to make some additional modifications” he said Monday at an unrelated announcement.
Calandra said the ministry has heard from the Ontario Hockey League, for example, when it comes to “high-level” athletes.
“High-level athletes in training, obviously, we’ll make some accommodations for that, but I say this again to the sports organizations as well: Education is a priority,” he said.
