{"id":520,"date":"2021-02-01T22:31:20","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T22:31:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/jrn-305-2021\/?p=520"},"modified":"2021-02-01T22:31:20","modified_gmt":"2021-02-01T22:31:20","slug":"exam-season-blues-begone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/project.journalism.torontomu.ca\/jrn-305-2021\/2021\/02\/01\/exam-season-blues-begone\/","title":{"rendered":"Exam season blues begone!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

HWDSB secondary school students approach the end of the semester without final exams.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Emma Moore<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On February 2, 2021 the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board (HWSDB) will be entering its second academic semester. Any other year, the weeks before this would be occupied with students scrambling to study for their fall final exams \u2014 but not this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement released by the HWDSB<\/a>, it was announced that final exams were cancelled for all secondary school students for the 2020-2021 academic school year. Rather than test via exams at the end of the semester, students\u2019 grades will be determined through assignments handed in during the semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This shift to a grading system without final exams may help alleviate some of the stress that high school students are facing. According to a 2020 Psychiatry Research article<\/a>, it was found that exam settings tend to result in high levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms in high school students who are taking the exams. These symptoms are exacerbated further by the stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While students have expressed their excitement about the cancellation of exams online, many concerns still arise about the quality of education that high school students are receiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wendy Cukier, founder of the Diversity Institute at Ryerson University, worries that the disruption in academic studies for high school students is a group that isn\u2019t receiving enough attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cParticularly youth in school, and the impact of the complete disruption of the kindergarten to grade twelve system \u2026 it’s taking a toll on their academic performance and mental health,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She highlights that within this group, those who face additional barriers and hardship are students from low income families, racialized communities, and people with disabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor me this is something that is not getting the attention that it deserves. Because those kids are the future,\u201d Cukier says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n