INNISFAIL – Education Minister Adriana LaGrange’s decision to make diploma exams scheduled for November for Grade 12 students optional is understandable, says Chinook’s Edge School Division superintendent Kurt Sacher.
“We were certainly ready to move ahead with diploma exams (in November),” said Sacher. “Our staff were preparing to support students to write those exams but everybody understands that we are dealing with a pandemic and these are unique time.
“We can certainly understand that the government is facing considerable pressure. We can certainty understand that they felt they needed to make a decision like this.”
Individuals families will make the decision whether to have a student write the exam or not, he said.
“The student can either take the teacher mark and be essentially exempt from writing the exam and it won’t be calculated against their final mark,” he said. “Those that write it, that is weighted 30 per cent of their mark.”
There are 92 students scheduled to write diploma exams in Chinook's Edge in November, with the students coming from various high schools in the division, he said.
It is not known how many of those students may choose to forgo the exams, which are written at individual schools on dates set by Alberta Education.
LaGrange said on Oct. 13 that making the exams optional gives parents and students flexibility while dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decision came following consultations with stakeholders, including parents and school councils, she said.
Jason Schilling, president of the Alberta Teachers Association, also called the decision to make the diploma exams optional a smart move.
“Teachers have advocated for a suspension of provincial testing programs since the summer, in light of COVID, and we are pleased to see the minister make the right choice,” said Schilling.
“COVID has created so much uncertainty and anxiety in schools, and many students and staff are missing large chunks of school time as a result of requirements to quarantine or self-isolate.”
