The province will offer students independent learning courses and rely heavily on public broadcasters TVO and TFO for their online resources and to provide more educational programming on television for younger kids during the two-week school shutdown, sources say.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce is expected to release details on Friday of the government’s alternative learning plans for the province’s two million students.

The unprecedented shutdown — a bid to help stop the spread of COVID-19 — begins Monday and, as of now, schools are set to reopen April 6.

Sources told the Star the province, which ordered the school closings just a week ago — adding two weeks on to this week’s March Break — has worked to provide online learning courses for students and will also make use of TVO’s and TFO’s existing resources.

The alternative work is expected to be a stopgap measure and not count toward a student’s grade.

Details are unclear on what, if any, provisions officials will make for students who don’t have a home computer or access to the internet, given public libraries have also been shuttered.

Harvey Bischof, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, said he is awaiting details and noted his union has not been involved in the planning.

“We sent a letter to the minister last Thursday offering our co-operation,” he said, but the government “has not reached out, one iota, to the people who have to implement the plans.”

Cathy Abraham, president of the Ontario Public School Boards Association, said she had no specifics about the learning plans but said trustees had raised a few issues with the ministry, especially around equity.

“The ministry has been very receptive to the things that we bring forward and are listening to our concerns and trying to do the best they can, given all that is unknown,” she said.

She said putting together a plan like this so quickly is a matter of “what they have available and what they can use that’s available, so as many students as possible have access.”

She expects that, “based on everybody’s suggestions, that this is just to keep kids on track — it’s not necessarily going to be graded.”

Right now, “it’s just ‘get us through these first two weeks.’ And if we go further — and in all likelihood we will — there is work being done on how we make this happen ... Everybody is working together to find the best way to do things.”

Several provinces have already shut down schools.

The Alberta government, which has shut them down indefinitely, said students will move on to the next grade in the fall, and has promised high school students will get all their credits and those expecting to graduate will. Teachers are expected to work from home or school.

In Saskatchewan, the government has convened a team amid the shutdown to figure out next steps. The team includes the Ministry of Education, school boards and teacher unions. It is looking at online learning and take-home materials.

“Things are changing constantly,” said Ontario NDP Education Critic Marit Stiles, who met with Lecce on Monday.

“The big issue is continuity of learning,” Stiles added. “It’s looking at what tools exist, where there are opportunities to use technology, and to be fair to the minister, it’s a massive undertaking and a lot has happened in a very short period.”

She too raised concerns about access to computers and the internet.

“I encourage the government to work in partnership with its education partners,” she said. “It’s so critical that we all work together ... that is something this government really needs to tap into. And I strongly urge the government to bring the unions into this planning.”

In particular, she said “Grade 12 students are going to need a lot of reassurance as to how this looks for them at the end of the year.”

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She also says students will need more mental health supports and urged boosts to resources such as Kids Help Phone, as well as for more tutors on TVO online and over the phone.

“There has to be a plan that addresses kids who will slip through the cracks,” she said, and especially for children who receive services such as speech and language pathology through their school.

Some boards have already posted online resources for parents, including the York Region District School Board and the Durham District School Board.

The Ontario government has already cancelled standardized testing for this school year and waived the literacy test as a requirement for graduation for this year only.