Updates

Update on Ontario Secondary School Diploma Graduation Requirements

Secondary Graduation Requirements

The Ministry of Education, as of October 2, 2020, outlined the graduation requirements as follows:

Community Involvement Graduation Requirement

For the 2020-21 school year, the ministry is revising the 40-hour community involvement graduation requirement so that students will not be adversely impacted by the ongoing challenges related to COVID-19.

For students graduating in the 2020-21 school year, the community involvement graduation requirement will be reduced to a minimum of 20 hours of community involvement activities. This recognizes that graduating students have had barriers to earning their community involvement hours last school year and there may be continued barriers this school year.

Students may wish to consider virtual volunteering, such as connecting with seniors, organizing virtual fundraising events and facilitating discussions with newcomer youth.  Outdoor volunteer opportunities could include, for example, picking up litter.

Volunteer opportunities, such as connecting young people to be technology mentors to seniors, can be found through agencies such as Spark Ontario.

In addition, the ministry is providing increased flexibility in how all secondary students can earn hours in 2020-21, as follows:

1.       At the principal’s discretion, schools may waive the restrictions that do not allow students to earn hours during the time allotted for the instructional program on a school day, or duties normally performed in the home (e.g., walking a younger child to and from school, helping younger siblings with school work).

2.       Students aged 14 years and older can count up to a maximum of 10 hours from paid employment towards their earned hours at the discretion of the principal. Students counting paid employment towards their graduation requirement will be required to complete a reflection exercise indicating how their work contributed to the service for others.

Students should continue to seek out and accumulate community involvement hours in accordance with TDSB policies and procedures, keeping in mind local public health unit recommendations.

Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT)

For students who are otherwise eligible to graduate before February 2021, but have not yet met the literacy requirement:

§  Principals have the discretion to directly enrol students in the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC). Alternatively, schools (including private and First Nation schools) could offer these students an adjudication process in order to complete the literacy graduation requirement.

§  Adjudications can be conducted on an ongoing basis at any time before February 2021, and can be conducted virtually or by mail, as needed.

For students graduating in June 2021, the Ministry currently plans to proceed with the graduation requirement and students may satisfy the literacy graduation requirement, as per regular practice by:

§  Writing the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) in Spring 2021;

§  Enrolling directly in the OSSLC in the 2020-21 school year; or

§  Participating in an adjudication process.

More information regarding the Spring administration of the OSSLT will be available in the future.