Minister Calandra once again shows how out of touch he is with Ontario families

OTTAWA – After the Minister of Education walked back his announcement about mandatory attendance for student athletes and students partaking in extracurricular activities, NDP Shadow Minister for Education Chandra Pasma (Ottawa West – Nepean) released the following statement:

“The Minister has absolutely no idea what is actually involved in education,” said MPP Pasma. “Walking back statements he made just yesterday after facing immediate backlash over mandatory attendance shows just how disconnected he is from the real needs of students and educators.

“He has clearly been ignoring all the evidence that points to extracurriculars like athletic participation significantly improve student outcome, and instead, is focused on power and control, pushing reckless policies regardless of whether they improve student learning.

“The Minister is throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. Barring students from doing sports isn’t going to help fix overcrowded classrooms. Real investments will.”