The life of someone studying in a medical field is a busy one, but for a group of University of Toronto students, even the hectic schedule does not stop them from taking on an extra project. They are volunteers at a clinic called IMAGINE, an acronym for Interprofessional Medical and Allied Groups for Improving Neighbourhood [...]

Good news from Queen’s Park yesterday, with the Liberal government tabling the Accepting Schools Act, intended to prevent bullying in Ontario schools. The move was sparked in part by several bullying-related teen suicides across the country, including that of Mitchell Wilson, a Pickering boy who killed himself in September after being violently mugged by another [...]

Robots sure do get around these days. They star in Bjork’s music videos, steal people’s jobs, vacuum, and haunt our dreams. It’s a classic “rapidly expanding field,” robotics is, with applications cropping up in more and more spheres from health care to household chores, manufacturing to space exploration. And though we’ve known the robots were [...]

In the run-up to the provincial election on October 6, we’ll be comparing the major parties’ platforms on issues that matter to urban voters. Education: it gives kids somewhere to go during the day, post-adolescents a place to learn about Jagermeister and fornication, and prevents us from becoming a province of shirtless unemployables locking ourselves [...]

At the upcoming rally in Queen’s Park this Sunday to support gay-straight alliances in Roman Catholic schools across Ontario, we easily imagine students holding up signs proclaiming “Equality or Bust.” Forty years ago, placards with that message were also held up by pupils, but at a mass rally at Maple Leaf Gardens to urge the [...]

Once a week, Vandalist features some of the most interesting street art and graffiti from around Toronto. You should contribute. BY:   Unknown LOCATION:   Near Bathurst and Harbord PHOTO BY:   Ashton Pal FIELD NOTES:   This week we’re featuring an educational piece you’ll go nuts for (yuk yuk). Toronto is a city of [...]

A screengrab of the map showing Grade 3 reading test results in Toronto. The full interactive version is available here. Every year, the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO), an independent agency funded by the Ontario government, conducts province-wide tests of elementary and high school students to assess how well those students are handling the [...]

In the run-up to the federal election on May 2, we’ll be comparing the major parties’ platforms on issues that matter to urban voters. Each party’s key messages, according to their respective colours. Image by Michael Chrisman/Torontoist. Historically, attracting the student vote hasn’t been terribly important to federal parties due to the fact that traditionally [...]

Oliver Mathias is a grade 10 student at St. Francis Xavier, a Catholic high school in Mississauga. In his writing, he is thoughtful, curious in nature, and articulate. Like most 15-year-olds, he connects with friends through Facebook, has a Tumblr to share pictures of female Canadian artists like Emily Haines and Tegan and Sara, and when he’s bored in science class, he uses his smartphone to surf the internet. He’s also an out student trying to reconcile his religious faith—not with his sexual orientation, but with the actions and beliefs of those around him.

Students taking part in Teach 2 Learn prepare for a theatrical performance on April 9. Many teenagers would agree that high school is a challenge. The physical and emotional changes of adolescence, social pressures from family and peers, the desire for independence, and worries about the future can combine to make school a tough experience. [...]

Detail of cover of Trevor Norris’s new book. “How can the education system maintain its democratic function in the face of commercial forces?” Over the past few months, this quandary has been debated all across the province—from the legislature at Queen’s Park to high school faculty lounges. OISE professor Trevor Norris explores the larger dimensions [...]

The University of Toronto started playing its cards wrong back in May. Without consulting faculty, staff, or students, the school's administration announced, via memo, that it would be shutting down the downtown campus for a full seven days for the G20. Rather than taking the opportunity to be a site for debate, dialogue, and intellectual rigour in a time when this city could have used some, U of T backed away from being what a university ought to be.