"Attendance is now part of your grade"… A Massive Overhaul of the Ontario Education Act: What Has Changed?

For a long time, we have often heard voices of disappointment and anxiety mixed together among many Korean parents regarding Canadian public education. The concerns were mostly, "Canada raises children too freely," or "I am worried they might lose their academic competitiveness compared to students in Asian countries like Korea."

There were also many criticisms that classroom discipline had collapsed due to a somewhat loose structure where school exams were replaced by assignments or presentations, and students could receive grades just by submitting the final outcome even if they skipped school occasionally. In fact, according to a survey by the Ontario provincial government, concerns about academic disengagement and public education gaps were real, with statistics showing that only 4 out of 10 high school students met the recommended attendance rate (over 90%).

However, it seems a major shift is coming in how we view Canadian education. Last April, the Ontario Ministry of Education unexpectedly announced a strong measure to restore broken classroom discipline and boost academic achievement: the 'Putting Student Achievement First Act, 2026 / Bill 101'.

The core of this revision is to introduce tighter standards and discipline into school education, helping children develop responsibility within a fair and competitive educational environment.

The first change parents and students must pay attention to in this bill is that 'attendance and class participation' will be directly quantified and reflected in the final grade. From now on, attendance will account for 15% of the final grade for Grades 9-10, and 10% for Grades 11-12, which directly impacts university admissions. The complacent thought of the past, "It's fine if I skip class as long as I do well on the exam," will no longer work. As a system where diligence itself is rewarded with points settles in, a much more favorable and fair environment has been created for students who consistently put in the effort every day.

The second change is the full mandatory implementation of written exams at the end of the semester. This is a commitment to fundamentally block the controversy over 'grade inflation' and unfair evaluations that arose when some schools or school boards arbitrarily abolished final exams and replaced them with project assignments. As all students from Grades 9 to 12 will take written exams under the same conditions, students will have their objective academic achievements verified and gain solid test-taking adaptability and genuine academic competitiveness that will work on the global stage.

The third is the mandatory use of Ministry-approved resources. Moving away from the existing teaching methods that relied heavily on the individual discretion of teachers, classes will be conducted based on standard textbooks and guides thoroughly verified by the Ontario Ministry of Education. Through this, regardless of which region or school they attend, students are guaranteed to receive stable, high-quality, upwardly standardized public education.

This revision of the Education Act is very encouraging news that further elevates the reliability of Canadian public education. It is because schools have been reborn as strict educational grounds where students grow into responsible members of society by following rules, rather than places to simply kill time.

We highly recommend that parents show this column directly to their children and have a deep conversation with a sense of alertness about the changed educational environment. Our students must also adopt a new mindset now. They must discard the careless thought that "Canadian schools are easy" and keep in mind that the very attitude of arriving at school on time every morning and immersing themselves in class becomes their own ability and competitiveness for university admission.

This change will become the strongest wings for students who sweat diligently. Facing this great turning point in Canadian education, Schools ON AIR is here to fully support our students as they grow into future talents equipped with a higher level of responsibility and global competitiveness.

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