CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Matthias Brennan said he didn’t think twice about returning to class on Tuesday.
The Bedeque man is one of the students in Holland College’s heritage retrofit carpentry program who started the 2020-21 school year at the Charlottetown centre.
“To be honest, I don’t have any concerns,’’ Brennan told The Guardian, who said that he checked out other heritage retrofit programs across Canada and found the course taught in Charlottetown addressed COVID-19 precautions.
“This one has been the most proactive (post-secondary institutions) in terms of trying to get their ducks in a row to make sure that we’re here today,’’ Brennan said. “We got emails early about their plans for COVID. I feel quite comfortable. You can see the shop is quite well set up.’’
For example, work stations in Brennan’s class are spaced out and are protected by sheets of plastic. Students were also advised about where and when to wear a mask around campus.
Lornie Hughes, executive director of student experience and the registrar at Holland College, said they are going with a staggered start to the school year.
Sept. 1 was the first day of classes for a number of programs across the Island, with another intake of students on Sept. 14.
There were also students who started classes on Tuesday online.
“We anticipate a third of our regular student body will be in fully distanced delivery for the fall (semester),’’ Hughes said. “Two-thirds will be in blended learning formats, which will include some distanced delivery included with some face-to-face delivery a few days per week.’’
Fully distanced students will not visit the campus this fall. It will be a mish-mash for those in blended delivery programs with a mix of in-class and online learning.
“The majority of training at the college is done in a hands-on format. That’s why students choose the college, so the challenge for the fall semester is to respect the rules of (the chief public health officer) and practising social distancing while maximizing our labs. We need to do that while respecting the density rules of the college as well.’’
Hughes said the college has worked with instructors and learning managers for the past two months on developing a plan for each program, figuring out schedules that would involve small clusters of students in lab environments.
Charlotte Morrison, another student in the heritage retrofit carpentry program, said she was initially concerned about returning to class.
“I did have concerns, but the more that I read and heard from Holland College the more at ease I felt about everything,’’ Morrison said. “I know everybody is doing their best and I just really wanted to get back to school this year. We can’t (stay) home indefinitely. We need to get out there.’’
As far as internships go, something that the college is well known for, Hughes said some, such as those in the health-care field, have been delayed, but others will go ahead as per normal.
“At this point, we’re going full on with internships and will continue to work with the industries on regulations,’’ Hughes said.
