Education Minister Adriana LaGrange (Photo: Government of Alberta)

By Shane Clausing

winter break extended

Alberta extends winter break for students by one week, Grade 12 January diploma exams cancelled

Dec 30, 2021 | 5:56 PM

The Province of Alberta has announced that it has extended the winter break for its schools until January 10.

The decision comes as Alberta continues to record new daily records of COVID-19 cases. Some students in the province were scheduled to return to the classroom on January 4.

Provincial officials feel this will help give schools time to prepare for students returning to the classroom or preparing for a transition to at-home learning. They add they are concerned about staffing shortages with so many people in the province being infected with the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

Minister of Education for the province Adrianna LaGrange says to help schools prepare for a return to the classroom on January 10, they will be distributing 8.6 million at-home rapid test kits to schools, as well as dishing out 16.5 million masks. The rapid test kits being distributed will equate to two at-home five-test kits for each individual staff and student.

Diploma exams for Grade 12 students have also been cancelled for the month of January due to the extension of winter break. Diploma exams were originally scheduled to begin on January 11. A decision will be made later in 2022 regarding April and June diploma exams.

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“With the COVID situation rapidly evolving, so too must our response. This pause will give teachers, school administrators and school authorities more time to plan for students to return safely to learning,” said LaGrange.

“Under very challenging circumstances, I am very grateful to parents, students, teachers and education partners for their flexibility during the pandemic.”

More information on next steps related to whether all students return to the classroom on January 10 will be announced next week. The decision will be evidence-based using operational information provided by school authorities, case information and other available health data.