WINNIPEG – As students across Canada return to class after the holiday break, Manitoba is taking a somewhat unique approach to COVID caution this week. While some provinces delay classes altogether and others resume in-person teaching right away, thousands of students from grades 7 through 12 begin two weeks of remote learning today.

Parents with children in the lower grades had a choice of taking advantage of the remote learning option or going back to school for in-class instruction.

Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen says the decision to move grades 7 to 12 to remote learning for two weeks wasn’t one made lightly, but, after consulting with public health officials in the weeks leading up to winter break, was deemed the best option to reduce the spread of COVID-19 following the possibility of a mass increase in close contacts during the holidays.