Education in Ontario


Education in Ontario comprises public and private primary and secondary schools and post-secondary institutions.
By right of the constitution of Canada, Roman Catholics are entitled to their own school system. Four large, overlapping publicly funded school systems provide primary and secondary education, organized into school districts: 31 English public, 29 English Catholic, 4 French public, and 8 French Catholic. One Protestant separate school board operates in Penetanguishene, Ontario, the Penetanguishene Protestant Separate School Board.
Post-secondary education in Ontario consists of 20 public universities, 24 public colleges and over 400 registered private career colleges.
In Canada, education falls almost entirely under provincial jurisdiction. There is no federal government department or agency involved in the formation or analysis of policy regarding education for most Canadians. Schools for Indigenous people in Canada with Indian status are the only schools that are funded federally, and receive greater funding than provincial public schools. Publicly funded elementary and secondary schools are administered by the Ontario Ministry of Education, while colleges and universities are administered by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. The current respective Ministers for each are Stephen Lecce and Ross Romano.

History

Timeline

Upper Canada's Grammar School Act of 1807 provided the first public funds for schools in what would become Ontario. 8 schools were opened.
An amendment to the 1850 Common School Act allowed for the creation of racially segregated schools. This was because the Common School Act included the Separate School Clause that allowed for the separation between different religions and races. At first, this sounded like a practical idea where each school could focus on teaching their faith or culture. However, it was taken advantage of and quickly became problematic as school trustees supported racial segregation towards coloured students. Racial segregation looked different depending on where it took place in Canada. Many of these schools were located in southwestern Ontario where Black individuals and families settled looking for freedom. Some schools in Ontario had separate school buildings, while others attended the same school but at different times. Those schools that were for Black students were characterized by markedly poorer conditions and little concern was shown for their education.  Scholars identify this as a suppressed history because it contradicts narratives of Ontario and Canada as places of justice and equality. However, this history includes a legacy of slavery in Canada that lasted for over 200 years as well as acts of terror perpetuated by white Ontarians such as burning the barns of Black families to the ground. The last racially segregated school in Ontario did not close until 1965 and in Nova Scotia until 1983, meaning that racially segregated schools existed for over one hundred years. Although Ontario and Nova Scotia were the two provinces to enact laws regarding racial segregation, many other provinces had racial segregation practices.
Many asian cultures also experienced segregation in Canada in regard to education. The first wave of Chinese immigrants pursued work in British Columbia and many decided to settle permanently there with their families. In 1922, it was voted to implement full segregation of Chinese students by forcing them to attend one of the only two Chinese schools in Victoria. Chinese segregation is another example of white supremacy in Canada, as British Columbia was seen as a predominantly white province and anyone who was not white, including the Chinese, were marginalized and alienated. This connects to the idea that the residents of British Columbia viewed Chinese individuals as a threat due to an assumed disease which was used to support Chinese segregation in the schooling system. From the view of Chinese students, it was a way of preventing them from learning the English language, which was a main focus in Canadian education at the time. In British Columbia, the segregation of Japanese students began occurring following the war. In 1942, the government denied any and all responsibility for Japanese education, essentially denying Japanese children the right to education. The British Columbia Securities Commission did not want to be involved with education, however, they argued that as Canadian citizens, Japanese students should have a proper education.

Residential schools in Ontario

Residential schools in Ontario were part of the larger Canadian Indian residential school system which spanned Canada. Notably, Egerton Ryerson, who is often celebrated for creating the free public education system in Ontario, was also a key architect of the residential school system. Many residential schools in Ontario were located in the North where Indigenous communities had either been forcibly relocated or pushed by encroaching colonists. However, the schools existed across the province. Increased attention has been brought to this suppressed history by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada which resulted from the settlement of a class action lawsuit between the Government of Canada, residential school survivors, churches involved in running the schools, the Assembly of First Nations, and other Indigenous groups. Since the closure of the schools, different approaches have been taken to dealing with the buildings. In Brantford, the building which once housed the Mohawk Institute Residential School is now part of the Woodland Cultural Centre. Residential schools were federally administered, meaning that the provincial government was not required to meet treaty obligations to Ontario First Nations for education. This saved the provincial government considerable funds and was key to funding education in the province. Reserve schools continue to be funded by the federal government today and recent inquiries have revealed that Indigenous students of Ontario in reserve schools receive 30% less funding than students at provincially funded schools.

Legislation

Education in Ontario is governed by the Education Act. Provincial, federal and international human rights codes and charters also have stipulations on children's learning experiences.

Ontario Human Rights Code

The Ontario Human Rights Code states:
It is public policy in Ontario to recognize the dignity and worth of every person and to provide for equal rights and opportunities without discrimination that is contrary to law, and having as its aim the creation of a climate of understanding and mutual respect for the dignity and worth of each person so that each person feels a part of the community and able to contribute fully to the development and well-being of the community and the Province.

Teaching human rights

Ontario schools are required to educate students about human rights and to develop young people's understanding of what they are, how they were developed and threats that challenge them. In 2009, the Ministry of Education implemented an Equity and Inclusive Education Strategy across the province that included making human rights education part of the primary and secondary curriculum. To assist educators, the Ministry worked with Ontario's Human Rights Commission and developed a guide with lessons, activities and case studies specifically designed to increase students' knowledge of human rights and to prompt discussion on such topics as discrimination, harassment and equality.

Structure and funding

Types of school boards

Ontario operates four publicly funded school systems: An English-language public school system, a French-language public school system, an English- language separate school system and a French-language separate school system. The public school system was originally Protestant but is now secular. The Separate School system is Roman Catholic with the exception of the Penetanguishene Protestant Separate School Board, which runs a single Protestant school.
School Board Funding Projections estimates more than CAD$ 20 billion will be put toward the province's 73 school board districts in the 2012–2013 school-year.
Preschool daycare is usually for youngsters under 4 years of age. Next comes Junior Kindergarten/J.K and Senior Kindergarten/S.K.
Ministry of Education documents divide grades into two categories: Elementary and Secondary. Local variances exist in the division of grades.
While children must begin school if they are 6 years old on the first day of the school year, the cutoff is 31 Dec: A 5-year-old may start Grade 1 if he/she will turn 6 by December 31. Children typically start a grade if they will be the following age by December 31:
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There is no legal age or time constraint against attending secondary school longer than 4 years, although a limit on course credit exists. Victory lappers make up an average of 4% of all students enrolled in Ontario secondary schools each year.

Multi-age settings

Split-grade classes are common.
A pilot project groups match students by ability rather than age.
Montessori schools group students in 3-year age groups. Democratic schools have complete age-mixing. Homeschooling families and unschoolers decide for themselves about age-mixing.
Roots of Empathy brings a baby into an elementary school classroom, regularly over the course of a year, to help students develop social/emotional competence and empathy.

Curriculum-based schools

Almost all Ontario public schools, and most private schools, follow the Ontario Curriculum. It has specific requirements about knowledge and behaviours to be learned, while allowing flexibility in how the curriculum is delivered.
The secondary school curriculum offers three streams : the Grades 9 and 10 curricula have the academic, applied and essentials streams. The academic courses are to prepare students for university-bound courses; the applied courses are to prepare students for college-bound courses; and the essentials courses are mainly for students, but not exclusively, with learning exceptionalities. Recently, there have been parents and educational advocates pushing for de-streaming Grades 9 and 10, so students have more time to choose which pathway they would like to take.
Then the Grades 11 and 12 curricula have university-bound, college-bound and workplace-bound courses. All of the courses are to develop students' higher-order thinking skills, and every secondary school course must have a focus on skills-based learning no matter the stream; however, academic/university-bound courses tend to have a strong focus on abstract thinking and knowledge-based learning, and usually pushes students to become more independent in their learning compared with college- and workplace-bound courses. Once a student is taking a Grade 12 university-bound course, then the student is expected to be academically and intellectually challenged in order for them to build their knowledge and skills for a university post-secondary education. Even though college-bound courses are academically rigorous, there is more of a focus on skills-based learning and making the content of the course practical for everyday life. Workplace-bound courses are even more practical. Each stream has different learning expectations, so marks in each stream are not equal to one another. For example, an 85% average student in Grade 12 College English would not be considered for a university program if that student has not taken the Grade 12 University English credit.

Alternative schools

Within the public boards, alternative schools have begun to emerge. In 2009 the Africentric School opened in Toronto and in 2011 the DSBN Academy opened its doors. The Africentric school was established in part to address the 40% dropout rate of black students in the Toronto District School Board. the DSBN Academy is a new school aimed at providing additional supports for students who may lack access or the resources to attend post secondary education. These alternative schools are based on social contexts that the individual school boards deem necessary for their constituents and are funded within the publicly funded school systems.
In addition, alternative schools in Ontario have also come to be for religious contexts as in the case of Eden High School in St. Catharines. "Eden is a publicly funded secondary school that operates as an alternative secondary school within the District School Board of Niagara. The school offers the prescribed Ontario Ministry of Education's Secondary School program delivered in the context of a community where the educational objectives of the Ministry of Education and those of Eden's own Spiritual Life Department are respected and regarded as complementary in the training of students."

Private schools

Ontario private schools must do the following:
A private institution is considered a school if "instruction is provided at any time between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on any school day for five or more pupils who are of or over compulsory school age in any of the subjects of the elementary or secondary school courses of study."
Private schools that meet provincial standards may offer the Ontario Secondary School Diploma.

There are approximately 700 private schools in Ontario, most represented by associations uniting schools of a common goal, view, or philosophy. Instructors are not required to be members of the Ontario College of Teachers, though many often are. More importantly, instructors are commissioned if their credentials satisfy the requirements outlined by their respective private school. As there are several types of private schools from elementary to the secondary school level, experience and training will differ for each.

Funding

In 2012–2013, the total expenditure for both public and private primary and secondary education in Ontario was $26,975,997,000.
Type of expenditures2008–20092009–20102010–20112011–20122012–2013
Public and private elementary and secondary education expenditures23,750,820,00025,171,480,00026,422,654,00026,718,171,00026,975,997,000

Funding formula

The provincial government allocates funds to school boards based on factors including:

Catholic public school funding

Ontario is the only province in Canada that funds religious schools of the Catholic faith exclusively.
This issue received media attention during the controversy surrounding gay-straight alliances, especially after Halton Catholic District School Board's Alice Anne Lemay compared gay-straight alliance groups to those of the Nazis in an effort to explain her board's decision to ban gay-straight alliances in their schools. The ban on gay-straight alliances was repealed with board members voting 6–2 on the issue.
The UN has cited Ontario for discrimination against non-Catholics, as UNESCO states that religion not be affiliated with any political powers. They are suggesting that Ontario either fund no faith-based schools, or all of them. While Ontario's government maintains that its hands are tied in the matter, many critics use the examples of Manitoba, Quebec, and Newfoundland to counter their argument.
A CBC poll suggested that 58.2% of Ontarians want a single publicly funded school system.
About half of Ontario's government-funded District School Boards are Catholic.
Contrary to the belief that Catholic Schools are funded exclusively, the Canadian Constitution of 1867 gives the Provinces the responsibility of education. Because schools were religiously based at the time, it includes protections for the minority religion whether it be Catholic or Protestant. Over time the majority Protestant boards have become secular as they had not had protections of minority status. This has not always been true though as there is one Protestant school board and Protestant school left in Ontario, The Burkevale Protestant Separate School in the Penetanguishene Protestant Separate School Board.

Organizations supporting education

There are many organizations in Ontario supporting education.
People for Education provides "research, resources and connections for everyone who cares about public education". Executive Director Annie Kidder believes that "Our public schools belong to all of us. They could and should be thriving hubs of every community – hubs of learning, of support for families and of neighbourhood activity."
The Society for Quality Education wants every child to succeed. The problem is that "most public schools are not using the most effective teaching methods and materials available. And, as a result, the students are not learning nearly as much as they could."

Student surveys

The Ontario Student Parent & Educator Survey is an annual survey regulated by the Ontario Student Trustees Association.
The Ministry of Education does a School Climate Survey of students at least every two years, to understand and prevent bullying, and to support a positive school climate.