Back to Basics: The Literacy and Math Skills Crisis in GTA Classrooms

Literacy and math skills are the foundation of every child’s education. Yet across the Greater Toronto Area, students are falling behind. Test scores from Ontario’s EQAO assessments show fewer children meeting the expected standards. The warning signs are clear—if we don’t act now, this problem will only grow worse.

📉 EQAO Results Reveal a Troubling Trend

In 2024, less than 60% of Grade 6 students met the provincial standard in reading. In math, the number dropped to just 47%. These results reflect a steady decline since before the pandemic.

Although the government updated the math curriculum in 2020 and revised the language curriculum in 2023, many educators say it’s not enough. The new changes haven’t translated into real gains in the classroom. In fact, they may have arrived too late.

🧑‍🏫 What Teachers Are Seeing on the Ground

Teachers across the GTA continue to report that students are struggling with basic skills, especially as they reach the middle grades. Many say students are entering their classrooms without the reading fluency or mental math capabilities expected for their grade level.

Without strong literacy and math skills, students have difficulty keeping up in high school, college, and life beyond the classroom. Even with a focus on digital learning, these basic skills are still the foundation of success.

🔁 Getting Back to Basics

Across the GTA, many teachers are calling for a renewed focus on core learning strategies. Their suggestions include:

• Bringing back cursive writing in early grades

• Setting aside time each day for mental math

• Expanding in-class reading programs

• Returning to phonics-based instruction for literacy

These ideas aren’t new—but they’ve been proven to work.

👨‍👩‍👧 What Parents Are Saying

In community forums and school council meetings, parents are expressing concern over the decline in basic academic performance. Many are calling for a shift in classroom focus—away from screens and back toward foundational learning.

Families across the GTA want schools to support early literacy and math development before learning gaps widen.

🛠️ A Plan for the Future

Experts say that reversing the decline starts with making literacy and math skills a top priority. That means more targeted funding, teacher training, and daily classroom time dedicated to reading and math.

It also means shifting the conversation. Technology is valuable—but it can’t replace the fundamentals.

Ontario has the talent, the resources, and the research to turn things around. What’s needed now is the will to act.

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The Learning Curve is GTA Weekly’s weekly look at education in the Greater Toronto Area—because every student’s journey deserves attention. Stay tuned for next week’s edition, where we explore the growing digital divide between classrooms in the GTA—and what can be done to close the gap.

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