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The Right to Education During the Pandemic Teachers and Education Workers Sorting Out What Is WhatTeachers and education workers across Canada, like others around the world, have been thrust into a new environment for teaching as a result of the closure of schools to curb the spread of COVID-19. Moving classes online has now become the norm at all grade levels. A big problem is that teachers and education workers want to work out how to affirm the right to education under the circumstances but are blocked from doing so because they are not being given a real say in how things proceed. Instead, they are told just to be flexible and accommodating, which translates into not speaking up when there are problems or just being critics of what is imposed on them from school boards or provincial governments. Teachers and education workers are the most flexible and accommodating when it comes to ensuring their students get the education they require. However, this does not translate into accepting measures that harm their own working conditions that they know are students' learning conditions.
A major issue of concern for teachers and education workers is how to ensure that those youth with special needs in the classroom or challenging personal situations are not permitted to fall through the cracks in these circumstances where they lack the resources they require to participate in education. The reality of moving to online learning in one fell swoop without an organized plan to ensure that all students, teachers and education workers have the infrastructure they require so that they can fully participate in the process, was largely left up to individuals and to chance. When governments declared the closing of schools, things had not been put in place to guarantee all families had the necessary equipment, in the quantities they require, and adequate internet and technology know-how to navigate this new "classroom" space, let alone guarantee that families had the necessary supports for difficult personal or financial situations where basic needs were already tenuous before schools were closed. Students in Grade 12 have been put into additionally challenging situations during their graduating year. Universities in Ontario, for example, continue to demand mid-term marks by April 20 to determine initial admission offers. However, this is an unrealistic demand, given that marks would only reflect in-class work up until March 13. Students and educators are concerned that the current situation will exacerbate the fact that students with greater resources and supports will have better chances to get into universities of their choice. How to affirm the right to education under the circumstances is not so straightforward. For example, should students be given a pass/fail mark? How does this affect getting into post-secondary education?
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It is a challenge
under the circumstances to have discussion on
what is taking place. One
issue is to have our own perspective so as not
to get overwhelmed by
all the emphasis on technology and competing
companies all vying to be
used for delivering education in hopes of coming
out on top. Each
province, and even each school board, has
different content delivery systems they use. As
a result, there is not
a common approach nor any intention to have one.
From one school to the
next, the approaches are different. There are
also the many education
related "apps" -- that are now free in many
cases -- that are pushing
to get everyone to sign up and use them in hopes
of becoming the
next big thing.
The starting
point of sorting out any of these problems must
be that education is a
right, not a competition to divide society.
Investments are required to
ensure all youth continue to advance in their
education and get the
formation they require to make a contribution to
society. First and
foremost, this means investments in having more
teachers
and education workers to support the system as
teachers, tutors and
teaching assistants and others who provide
specialized supports to
students with high needs so that everyone can be
supported under the
circumstances. It also means teachers and
education workers empowering
themselves to put forward solutions that uphold
the right to education
in practice.