5 Reasons Ontario’s latest school closures are “bad for business”
Over the course of the pandemic, we have noticed a narrative forming that educational disruptions and school closures are “good for business.” The media seems to be trying to push this narrative that in the face of educational mayhem, the tutoring industry is flourishing at the expense of this collective educational breakdown we’re all witnessing. Today, after Ontario’s latest school closure announcement, The Globe and Mail published a piece along those exact lines, called “More Canadian Parents Hiring Tutoring to Keep Their Kids From Falling Behind.”
What popular media doesn’t seem to be talking about, is the other side of the story: the reality that while yes, kids and families are in desperate need of support, that the trauma of disruptive and sudden school closures often renders that support inaccessible, irrelevant, and unimportant, vetoed by the urgency of keeping the mental health of an entire family intact.
So for those asking if school closures are "good for tutoring businesses":
Let me begin by unequivocally saying: We, at The Math Guru, are in the business of helping students heal their relationships with math, science, education, and most of all - themselves. So in short, no, school closures are NOT good for business.
No one heals when teachers aren't given the tools to teach. When students don't have space to learn. When there is a lack of organization. Or when there is confusion about what even matters anymore.
Now that that's out of the way, let me explain why school closures are not "good" for business from not only the perspective of our own purpose as a business, but from a pragmatic & business-minded perspective as well.
If you're not in education or don't have kids, I want to shed light on what happens when education is disrupted like this. Here are a few things we have seen at The Math Guru over the past 2 years.
1. No one has the bandwidth to care
Families simply no longer have the bandwidth to care about school. They are overwhelmed by the chaos of working from home alongside their children while worrying about their kid's mental health, both of which are justifiably much more important than whether homework gets done or not.
2. Kids opt out
Kids opt out of school when temporary school closures are announced. And then find it impossible to opt back in. It takes SO MUCH WORK to pivot to virtual learning. What we saw last year is that many families rightfully opted to take a break for 2 weeks. But then 2 weeks turned to 4, 6, 8...and it eventually feels impossible to ever opt back in.
3. Online learning gets a bad rep
Most people may not remember this, but before Covid existed, the Ontario Government was quietly plotting to force all high school kids to get a portion of their high school credits online. They insisted that this would be the way of the future and that they had a rock-solid virtual learning plan. Spoiler: they did not. And the result is that their bluff was called, and the mockery they have made of online learning has essentially traumatized families. For an organization like us that takes pride in providing an exceptional educational experience, whether in-person in our studio or virtually vis a vis Zoom, the virtual experience of Ontario students has made it hard for them to trust that online learning CAN be amazing!
When we repeatedly close schools suddenly and indefinitely, we maintain the notion that online education is disorganized and ineffective. We need to do better. It has been two years: we’ve managed to come up with an excellent way to tutor kids in math and science virtually, providing them an experience equal to in-person learning. How is it possible that 2 years later, our province has not managed to do the same?!
4. Kids lose their “why”
Incentives associated with education cease to exist when school closures take place. This is the THIRD year where there will be NO exams for high school students. Kids have been trained to believe that the only purpose of school is getting good grades (many of us know that there is much more to gain from school than simply a letter-grade, but for the most part, it's what the system teaches kids and parents). When there is no longer a test to study for or an exam to pass...what's the point?!
5. Kids stop caring
Kids. Stop. Caring. I mean, wouldn't you?! When it feels like no one cares about your education, life, or future...why should you? And that is why we have a mental health crisis on our hands. Kids are suffering.
There is so much more to say, but I wanted to at least begin to address the "isn't this good for business?" narrative I've been seeing everywhere. I hope this helps, and as always, I welcome your thoughts.
Vanessa Vakharia is the author of 𝑀𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝐻𝒶𝒸𝓀𝓈 + 𝑀𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝐻𝒶𝒸𝓀𝓈 𝟚 , the host of the Math Therapy podcast, and the founder of The Math Guru tutoring studio.