The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) is considering dropping the requirement of passing high school in order for students to walk across the graduation stage. If approved, OCDSB would host a ceremony based on equity — not education. It will be called not a graduation ceremony, but rather an inclusive “commencement” ceremony.The new “inclusive” policy would allow those who did not complete their high school classes to participate in the commencement ceremonies.Changes would also involve awards for non-academic achievements and awards will not be based on gender. The national anthem and land acknowledgments will still be in effect. “At commencement, students of all levels of achievement will be able to cross the stage with their peers,” Ottawa’s largest school board said in a statement alongside an invitation for people to comment on the proposed change, according to the Ottawa Citizen. The public can submit their feedback on the policy changes prior to March 29. OCDSB’s policy committee will review the matter April 4 and present the amended policy to the board April 25. “For a variety of reasons, students may not have completed all the requirements for a move on from secondary school,” the statement reads. “With this change, these students will be able to join their peers and celebrate their achievements.”The potential changes demonstrate the OCDSB’s “commitments to inclusivity, social responsibility and authentic community engagement,” said the board’s director of education Pino Buffone and associate director Brett Reynolds in a report.Education professor and director of the Canadian Research Centre on Inclusive Education at Western University Jacqueline Specht said “inclusive ceremonies are a celebration of the time students have spent in school.”It recognizes that all kids are part of the community,” she said. “It’s a good thing. As our understanding of people changes, so do big traditions. And that’s OK.”“Anytime we have charitable awards, people can tell. We either give awards and we give them honestly and truthfully, or we don’t give them at all,” she said. “We can’t give everyone an award. There are hundreds of kids.”“Students have diverse educational journeys and all students’ diverse experiences should have the opportunity to be celebrated, including those who have historically faced challenges within the education system, both in the past and in the present.”
