Education in Ontario - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Education in Ontario falls under provincial jurisdiction. Publicly funded elementary and secondary schools are administered by the Ontario Ministry of Education

Ministry of Education (Ontario)

The Ministry of Education is the agency of the Ontario government in the Canadian province of Ontario responsible for government policy, funding, curriculum planning and direction in all levels of public education, including elementary and secondary schools.This Ministry is responsible for...

, while colleges and universities are administered by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.

The current Minister of Education is the Honourable Leona Dombrowsky, and the current minister of Training, Colleges and Universities is John Milloy.

Ontario operates four publicly funded school systems. An English-language public school system, a French-language public school system, an English language separate school

Separate school

In Canada, separate school refers to a particular type of school that has constitutional status in three provinces and statutory status in three territories...

school system and a French language separate school system. The public school system was originally Protestant but is now secular and non-denominational. The Separate School system is Roman Catholic (open to students of all faiths at secondary level, they have the option of refusing non-Catholics at the elementary level) with the exception of the Penetanguishene Protestant Separate School Board

Penetanguishene Protestant Separate School Board

Penetanguishene Protestant Separate School Board has its headquarters in Penetanguishene, Ontario, Canada. The board consists of a single school, the Burkevale Protestant Separate School....

which runs a single Protestant school.

Within the public boards, alternative schools have begun to emerge. In 2009 the Africentric School opened in Toronto and in 2011 the DSBN Academy opened its doors. The Africentric school was established in part to address the 40% dropout rate of black students in the Toronto District School Board. the DSBN Academy is a new school aimed at providing additional supports for students who may lack access or the resources to attend post secondary education. These alternative schools are based on social contexts that the individual school boards deem necessary for their constituents and are funded within the publicly funded school systems.

In addition, alternative schools in Ontario have also come to be for religious contexts as in the case of Eden High School in St. Catharines."Eden is a publicly funded secondary school that operates as an alternative secondary school within the District School Board of Niagara. The school offers the prescribed Ontario Ministry of Education’s Secondary School program delivered in the context of a community where the educational objectives of the Ministry of Education and those of Eden's own Spiritual Life Department are respected and regarded as complementary in the training of students."

Finally, Ontario allows private schools that meet provincial standards to offer the Ontario Secondary School Diploma. "According to the Education Act of Ontario, a private school is deemed as any educational institution that is partially or entirely funded by sources other than the government, and that students of appropriate age attend for instruction between 9:00 to 16:00 on a typical school day. Ontario private schools are regulated by the province's Ministry of Education, and must meet, but often exceed, their standards. As a result, it is necessary for each to notify the ministry of their operation annually before or on September 1.

Officers can inspect the records and premises of Ontario private schools to ensure they meet provincial standards. Inspection is also carried out if a private secondary school would like to include subjects in their curriculum that can be counted as credits for the Ontario Secondary School Diploma.

There are approximately 700 private schools in Ontario, most represented by associations uniting schools of a common goal, view, or philosophy. Instructors are not required to be members of the Ontario College of Teachers, though many often are. More importantly, instructors are commissioned if their credentials satisfy the requirements outlined by their respective private school. As there are several types of private schools from elementary to the secondary school level, experience and training will differ for each."

See List of Ontario school boards

The UN has cited Ontario for discrimination against non-Catholics because Ontario publicly funds the Catholic School Board but not schools professing any other faith. A CBC poll suggested that 58.2% of Ontarians want a single publicly funded school system with no discrimination.

The Independent Learning Centre

Independent Learning Centre

The Independent Learning Centre is the Canadian province of Ontario's designated provider of distance education and the exclusive provider of General Educational Development Testing in Ontario....

was founded in 1926 to provide distance education

Distance education

Distance education or distance learning is a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom...

services to elementary and secondary school students. Since 2002, the ILC has been operated by the Ontario Educational Communications Authority (TVOntario).

Levels in education

	Typical age (at end of the school year)
Preschool
Daycares	<4
Elementary Elementary school An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
Junior Kindergarten Kindergarten A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...	4-5
Kindergarten Kindergarten A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...	5-6
Grade 1 First grade First grade is a year of primary education in schools in the United States and English-speaking provinces of Canada. It is the first school year after kindergarten...	6–7
Grade 2 Second grade In the United States, second grade is a year of primary education. Second grade is the second school year after kindergarten. Students are traditionally 7–8 years old, depending on when their birthday occurs....	7–8
Grade 3 Third grade In the United States, third grade is a year of primary education. It is the third school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 8 – 9 years old, depending on when their birthday occurs....	8–9
Grade 4 Fourth grade Fourth grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The fourth grade is the fourth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 9 or 10 years old, depending on their birthday. It is a part of elementary school. In some parts of the United States, fourth grade...	9–10
Grade 5 Fifth grade Fifth grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The fifth grade is the fifth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 10 – 11 years old, and are preteens...	10–11
Grade 6 Sixth grade Sixth grade is a year of education in the United States and some other nations. The sixth grade is the sixth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 11 – 12 years old...	11–12
Grade 7 Seventh grade Seventh grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The seventh grade is the seventh school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 12–13 years old. Traditionally, seventh grade was the next-to-last year of elementary school...	12–13
Grade 8 Eighth grade Eighth grade is a year of education in the United States, Canada, Australia and other nations. Students are usually 13 - 14 years old. The eighth grade is typically the final grade before high school, and the ninth grade of public and private education, following kindergarten and subsequent grades...	13–14
Secondary Secondary education Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
Grade 9 Ninth grade Ninth grade is the ninth post-kindergarten year of school education in some school systems. The students are 13 to 15 years of age, depending on when their birthday occurs. Depending on the school district, ninth grade is usually the first year of high school....	14–15
Grade 10 Tenth grade In majority of the world,Tenth grade is the tenth year of school post-kindergarten. The variants of "10th grade" in various nations is described below.-Australia:...	15–16
Grade 11 Eleventh grade Eleventh Grade is the eleventh, and for some countries final, grade of secondary schools. Students are typically 16 or 17 years of age, depending on the country and the students' birthdays.-Brazil:...	16–17
Grade 12 Twelfth grade Twelfth grade or Senior year, or Grade Twelve, are the North American names for the final year of secondary school. In most countries students then graduate at age 17 or 18. In some countries, there is a thirteenth grade, while other countries do not have a 12th grade/year at all...	17-18
Victory Lap Victory lap (academia) A victory lap is a term used in American & Canadian academics to describe one or more extra years of study needed beyond the traditional four years of undergraduate studies. These added years are generally the result of switching midstream to a different major or program...	17+
Post-secondary education
Tertiary education Tertiary education Tertiary education, also referred to as third stage, third level, and post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of a school providing a secondary education, such as a high school, secondary school, university-preparatory school...	Ages vary
Vocational education Vocational education Vocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...	Ages vary

External links

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Levels in education

See also

External links