High school students in Waterloo Region may be breathing a sigh of relief after learning they will not have to take exams this fall as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
The ministry of education recently provided school boards with the option of cancelling exams to use the days for instructional time and both boards in Waterloo Region have confirmed they have chosen to do so.
A spokesperson for the Waterloo Region District School Board said the move will be used to support students finishing coursework and consolidating learning.
“We have made the decision to cancel exams for each of the quadmesters,” Alana Russell said via email.
“The ministry has allowed us to assess students on 100 per cent term mark as opposed to the previous weighting of 70 per cent term mark and 30 per cent summative mark (which is often an exam mark) to determine the final mark.”
She says students who currently attend classes at school will not attend on those days but teachers will be available for remote support.
“There will also be no formal exams in the Distance Learning Program,” Russell explained. “Details will be released to the community in the coming days.”
The Waterloo Catholic District School Board says final assessments will be held remotely.
“No formal final exams are required; however, end of quadmester assessments are mandatory and may include culminating activities, portfolios, interviews, take-home exams, essays, etc.,” WCDSB spokesperson John Shewchuk said through email.
He said the assessments will be part of the final term mark.