Derrick Ni / Staff reporter
Even with the large-scale spread of the COVID-19 in Canada and the continuous increase of infected people, the BC provincial government still decided to resume offline teaching [implementing a new system; the Quarter system — four semesters with two courses per semester]. This new system for teaching will ensure the quality of teaching and the safety of students and teachers. Stephen Shi, grade 11and Brant Liu, grade 11 were interviewed to express their views on the new system .
Liu had a positive view of the new system. “In the past semester, I would get up at 7:30AM every day, put on clothes and prepare to go to the next four classes. Now, I wake up at 8:30AM every day and only need go two classes. I no longer need to write four classes of homework which gives me more time to review, prepare for exams and join other extra-curricular activities. Although I think the new system is better than the previous system , I still feel that offline teaching is not that safe, because you still have contact with other people and you don’t know who they have contacted with, said Liu.
On the other hand. Compared with Liu, Shi had a different thought of the new system.
“I think the new system is terrible. There’s no need to resume offline teaching. I am taking Intro-Korean 11 this semester ; Usually, we have nearly four months to study , because of the shortening of the semester, I only have two months to study , and it is still not every day! Our teacher also said that in the past we had the opportunity to make kimchi and watch Korean movies, but now they have been cancelled due to time constraints,” said Shi.
Lots of students dislike the new learning system and offline teaching. Accelerated teaching progress and homework load have increased the stress levels in many students. Offline teaching has also caused many students to be unable to concentrate in class because of the fear of whether they will be infected with the virus. But returning to school also makes some students feel happy. Students no longer have to stay at home to attend classes, but can go out to school and meet their classmates.