Conestoga College students pushing back against return to in-person learning

KITCHENER — A number of Conestoga College students are pushing back after learning they will have to return to in-person learning for the winter term.

“There are a number of students who do not live within a reasonable 40-kilometre distance of the school to make the daily commute there,” said Dove Clarke, a two-year advertising and marketing communications student at the college.

“We have some young parents in our program who have young children and I mean, childcare is always a difficult thing to navigate, but especially in this time,” she adds.

Clarke says students were told this month they would be required to return to the classroom starting in January, after classes have been mostly virtual for 19 months.

One of Clarke’s classmates have started a petition asking for a remote option for those not comfortable with returning to campus.

Conestoga College was not available for an on-camera interview with CTV News, but in an email said that while the college has delivered many programs remotely since March 2020, their intention to return to more on-campus learning has been consistently shared with students.