History and Origins
The ILC was founded in 1926 when Ontario's Department of Education established correspondence courses for elementary school children living in isolated communities in northern Ontario. A "Railway School Car Program" serving children in isolated areas but along railway lines was also established that year. “the teacher and his family lived on the train car, which was part of CP Rail... They went from stop to stop, teaching the children of miners and loggers who lived in communities along the railway tracks.” The programs had a common objective - to bring education to children in isolated communities.
By the 1950s, the correspondence course program had expanded to include a complete set of secondary school courses allowing for students to receive a high school diploma entirely through distance education.
On April 1, 2002, the ILC was transferred from the Ministry of Education to the Ontario Educational Communications Authority which also operates TVOntario.
In recent years the ILC has evolved its service offering to include the latest software and internet-based delivery techniques. The ILC serves approximately 20,000 Ontarians a year, and learners can do all their coursework either offline, online or a combination of both.
Read more about this topic: Independent Learning Centre
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