Schools across Alberta are preparing to close their doors while the province readies a home curriculum for students ahead of Monday’s provincewide teachers' strike.
Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said Thursday the province has already put online a curriculum that parents can use to teach their children should the 51,000 members of the Alberta Teachers’ Association make good on their promise to walk out.
In an interview, Nicolaides said it’s not fair that students would be forced to bear the brunt of the walkout, which would affect more than 700,000 students across public, separate and francophone schools.
"That's the primary reason why we put this tool kit together," he said. "So that parents, if they are willing and able to, can support their child's continued academic progression and learning."
Earlier this week, nearly 90 per cent of union members who voted rejected the province's latest offer, which included a 12 per cent pay hike over four years and a promise to hire 3,000 more teachers.
Union president Jason Schilling says teachers recognize a strike could inconvenience parents, but that they're standing up for children.
"I'm hoping that (parents) are also putting pressure on government to do right by their children," he said.
The ATA also is looking into the online tool kits, he said. They're concerned they might not meet students where they're at.
"Some of them are talking about things that teachers would have taught the first week of September, and we're ...in October," Schilling said.
The public school boards in Edmonton and Calgary have sent notices telling families that — barring an 11th-hour deal — classes would be paused beginning Monday and they are not to send their children to school.
Field trips, extracurricular activities and sports would also be cancelled. Students were also told to bring home valuables and personal belongings ahead of Monday.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
