Students are back in the classroom this morning after a five-week faculty strike at 24 Ontario colleges.

Teachers returned to schools on Monday to prepare after the provincial government passed back-to-work legislation over the weekend and on Tuesday, students officially resumed their semester.

The lengthy strike has prompted colleges to extend the fall term into January this year, a move which Jen McMillen, the Dean of Students at Humber College, said will make course work more manageable for students.

“Certainly there is anxiety and students are concerned about what the rest of their semester and academic year is going to look like,” McMillen told CP24 Tuesday morning.

“We certainly hope that students will come back, will have a chance to meet with their faculty, will see what the plan is. At Humber, we’ve decided to spread the time out over the course of the full academic year, so instead of two 14 or 15-week terms, we are going to have two 13-week terms.”

Approximately 500,000 students were impacted after 12,000 faculty members walked off the job on Oct. 15.

During Question Period at Queen’s Park on Tuesday, Ontario Education Minister Deb Matthews continued to defend the government’s handling of the strike.

The province was repeatedly questioned about why the strike was allowed to continue for as long as it did.

“Once it became clear that the parties couldn’t reach an agreement, that they were at a deadlock, we did commit to act,” Matthews said. “We used every opportunity to quickly pass legislation that would get students back in the classroom.”

She outlined the ways the province is helping students get through the semester.

“Every college has established a dedicated fund to support students for additional costs that they incur as a result of the strike,” she said.

The fund offers students up to $500 for costs such as rebooked train or bus tickets, child care, or additional rent costs. Students who choose to withdraw from school will receive a full tuition refund.

Students will have two weeks to decide whether they want to continue on with the semester.

“We understand some students may have life circumstances where that is not possible (to continue on), however, we do feel the majority are going to come back, meet with the faculty, get the support they need outside the classroom, and start to understand that we really do think they can do this,” McMillen said.

Speaking to CP24 on Tuesday morning, one George Brown college student said she has heard from many students who plan to withdraw this semester to start fresh next year.

“A lot of people are dropping out because it is going to be a lot of workload for us students Overall, people just don’t have any motivation to go back to school since we’ve been off for so long,” she said.

Student Olivia Williams said she is still on the fence about whether to proceed with the semester.

“I am so relieved to be back in school and at least to see what is going to happen next,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), which represents striking staff, and the College Employer Council, which represents Ontario’s 24 colleges, will now be referred to binding mediation-arbitration to hammer out the details of a new contract.