Lauren Campbell, 15, grade 9, and her sister Emma,18, grade 12, have been out of school since the start of the Durham District School Board's teacher strike last April.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Five weeks out of school, and now four weeks to make up for it: High school students in Durham district face a whirlwind end to their semester, and the longer-term consequences of the strike are not yet clear.
Dennise Campbell, whose two daughters go to high school in Oshawa, said back-to-work legislation announced on Monday is "too little, too late" for the district.
"I think that our kids were put at a competitive disadvantage," she said. "They've got some key skills they're really losing out on."
Sudbury and Peel area high schools also face end-of-year crunches after their own strikes, but with slightly fewer classes missed: Sudbury's schools have been out for four weeks, and Peel's for three. Chairs of the three school boards say they will need to find creative ways to make up the time.
The province decided to force teachers back to the classroom on Monday after the Education Relations Commission ruled that the academic year for students at the three boards may be in jeopardy. But teachers are not likely to be back at work until Friday at the earliest, adding nearly a week on to each strike. The Ministry of Education will have to make significant allowances to consider the school year complete.
The ministry usually requires 110 hours of class time to award the credit, but it "has already indicated that they're not going to enforce that," said Michael Barrett, chair of the Durham District School Board.
His board is considering cancelling final exams to maximize teaching time, he said. Rainbow District School Board in Sudbury might do the same, said its chair, Doreen Dewar.
In Peel district, graduation ceremonies have already been postponed to the fall, board chair Janet McDougald said, and she will ask the ministry for advice on how to handle June classes.
"Certain units of the curriculum will be prioritized," she said. "Teachers aren't going to load [students] up with all kinds of work trying to make up for that content."
Ontario universities formed an ad hoc task force on the strikes, and are helping students catch up, partly through remedial courses. Ryerson University, for example, will expand some pre-university programs, such as a math mini-course, and encourage affected students – more than 3,000 of whom applied to Ryerson – to take them.
"We are committed to student success, but it's a two-way street," said Charmaine Hack, the university's registrar.
Many schools based their decisions on midterm marks. George Brown College will refund $500 tuition-fee deposits from students who now cannot provide a diploma and proof of final marks. In a statement, the University of Toronto said it is not re-evaluating admission decisions made using midterm marks, but it offered extra support.
"Students should plan to complete all elements and learning aspects of relevant grade 12 course material in preparation for first-year courses by using all resources and opportunities available to them," the school said.
One Peel student says it is daunting to learn weeks of lessons independently.
"When you're in the classroom and teachers are pushing you, it's easier. That's why school exists," said Paul Okundaye, a student at Chinguacousy Secondary School in Brampton.
Ms. Campbell, whose older daughter is graduating, says younger students will also suffer. Her daughter Lauren, in Grade 9, missed a chunk of foundation classes such as math and French, which could affect her success in Grade 10, Ms. Campbell said. She added that Lauren loves drama, and she also missed a chance to be in a school musical.
"Obviously, I'm very concerned with the academics, but, you know, when kids try out for those types of things, that's important to them as well," Ms. Campbell said.
Tina Walker, whose teenagers are in Grade 10 and 12 in Sudbury, said she hopes cancelling exams would help them catch up. "I think it'll be hard for the children. It'll be a lot of work," she said.
She added that, with the school year dwindling, she is frustrated that the NDP caucus slowed the passage of the bill. "They should not take an extra three days just to make a point," she said.