The student says that the distance learning that occurred due to the pandemic was not an adequate substitute for in-person attendance at school.

Many students who graduated from high school this year have not undergone an in-person exam since the tenth grade.

This is just one of the new challenges facing graduates as students prepare to enter the post-secondary phase after the COVID-19 pandemic caused most of their high school classes to be suspended.

For the class of 2022, pandemic restrictions caused the cancellation of labs, cooperative activities, extracurricular clubs, and sports. A "compensatory grades" policy was implemented, which means that many students received more lenient assessments than the usual evaluations in assignments and tests.

Outside school, the pandemic even disrupted the social lives of teenagers, and some high school students, after periods of forced isolation, now find it difficult to make friends and interact with their peers.

Evan Woo, a senior at Earl Haig Secondary School in Toronto, said: "I really don’t know how prepared I am for that journey after high school."

He said, "I feel behind in education and struggling in my social interactions." "After the pandemic stole this from us, it’s really disgusting for sure."

Like other Ontario students, Woo has experienced at least three school closures due to COVID-19 since 2020. He said that the remote learning offered during that time was not a substitute for in-person education.

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Woo, who is also a student trustee on the Toronto District School Board, said, "Our program right now is just textbook learning and reviewing PowerPoint slides." "I really lost that interest, passion, and motivation to learn, and I really hope we can get that back."

Woo said his "real-life skills" were affected, and he is unsure of his readiness for something informal like "hanging out with friends" in college.

From bedrooms to lecture halls

Many college graduates still remember the first time they entered a huge lecture hall with hundreds of seats. The high school graduates of the class of 2022 will do this after getting used to going to class alone in their bedrooms.

Woo said, "To even comprehend the idea of sitting in a lecture hall with 500 students – I see that as a huge challenge."

Teachers say they are concerned that the disruptions in schools have left students unprepared for college and university requirements.

University students struggle with being forced to attend classes online during the pandemic

With in-person tests impossible, the main factor was making adjustments to grades and exams as teachers transitioned to simpler assessments or open-book tests, which do not require the same level of study or depth of knowledge.

Michelle Paniello, a child and youth worker at the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, said, "I think there are a lot of gaps in education. A lot of it relates to exam writing."

"Many students heading to university lack experience in completing major projects because in recent years these activities became somewhat optional, sort of to lighten the workload and stress caused by the pandemic," Paniello said.

She also pointed to fewer cooperative placements for students in applied-level programs, which target preparation for college and skilled trades. This means many students missed out on hands-on training opportunities in their last years of high school.

Paniello said, "Kids are struggling."

Alongside adjusted tests and projects, school boards also allowed teachers to grade more leniently than usual, using what are called compassionate grading accommodations.

At the Toronto District School Board, high school grades were frozen before the winter break, and at that point, the rise of the Omicron variant led to another shift to remote learning. The decision means that a student's grade for that term cannot drop below the level it was at last December.

There were calls to freeze grades in boards throughout the province.

One professor in post-secondary institutions said there are already signs that pandemic learning is leaving a mark on young minds.

James Andrew Smith, an engineering professor at York University who teaches over 500 first-year students annually, said, "These students who used to shout out, have stopped." "They are dropping out in larger numbers. Struggling students are getting worse results."

Like many professors, he is adapting. Instead of midterms or comprehensive finals, Smith breaks down material into assignments spread throughout the semester.

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He believes there is improvement in some respects and a positive shift from the final exam where there are "high stakes, high pressure." But with the resumption of in-person classes, Smith will not abandon the principle of large tests.

He said, "Exams are still in place." "It’s really important to have a way to verify that students are who they say they are, and that they know the material and have retained its information."

Going to school in person was "very refreshing" for a first-year student at York University, according to Hassan Daniel.

He said he lacked "social interactions" during his last years of high school and struggled to motivate himself to learn remotely.

Although the students may have experienced a more disrupted high school in his group, Daniel believes incoming students will be able to make the transition.

He said professors understand things, adding, "I feel somewhat overwhelmed at the end of the day."

Edited by: Dima Abu Khair