Students enrolled in programs through the Red River Technical Vocational Area appear to be adjusting well to life and learning under COVID-19 guidelines.

RRTVA Director Lane Curry says he's pleased that high school students are able to attend classes every day.

"They're getting a full complement (of in-class instruction) and that's great. Our class sizes are around 14 or 15 which makes for nice, natural cohorts. Most of our vocational workspaces are larger than a typical classroom, so it's set up quite well for student learning even with the spacing."

There are about 425 students enrolled in RRTVA programs at high schools throughout the region, which is down from last year's 445. Curry says the lower number this school year can be directly attributed to the Health Care Aid program that is typically offered to grade 12 students in the fall semester.

"It's administrated by Red River College. They supply the nurses and the instruction but have gone to a remote learning model. COVID really restricted some of the practicum pieces of that course. There are 30 students trying to be placed in two different health facilities for their practicum ... and it just wasn't reasonable with the COVID situation, so we're not taking any high school students."

Curry says they were fortunate that was the only program that was impacted by the COVID-19 restrictions. He is confident those enrollment numbers will bounce back if some students are able to make it work in their schedule to participate for semester two.