Ford's New Plan: Attendance Counts in Ontario Schools

0:00It's April 14, I'm Cory with the story, and this is Calgary News today, your AI-powered local news. Ontario's four government just dropped a new plan to boost school attendance by baking your right into high school grades. Starting soon, showing up to class will count for 15 percent of final marks in grades 9 and 10, and 10 percent in grades 11 and 12. They're also bringing back mandatory written exams across the board. Education Minister Paul Kalandra says this idea came straight from teachers he's talked to over the past year. He admitted he was shocked to learn attendance and exams have been ditched for years, leaving marks based only on coursework. Without that incentive, kids could skip class freely, and hardworking students got no extra nod. Teachers on the ground have been dealing with rising absenteeism since the pandemic, making classrooms tougher to manage. The government hasn't shared exact numbers, but they say it's a real problem now. Just like the Ontario Secondary Teachers' Federation, call it low-hanging fruit that

1:00skips the big fixes, like better funding or tackling transport. Issues. Opposition leader John Frazier points the unsafe or overcrowded classes as the real reason kids stay home, not just the lack of grey points. Kalandra trusts teachers no best and sees this as rewarding effort, not punishing skips. As schools gear up for the change, it'll be interesting to see if it pulls more students through the doors and keeps the beat going strong.