03-25-2006, 02:24 AM
Well now that the strike is almost 3 weeks old, i've become incredibly frustrated by this strike. So i decided i would make my voice heard. A few nites ago i started righting a letter that has now been sent to the Premier, my local MPP, the minister for Colleges, the president of my college, the chair of my program, the local media, and both the colleges and the teachers union.
As the college teachers strike heads towards the end of its third week, I find myself as a student caught in the middle of this strike with more questions than answers. The only thing that I know at this point is that the only party losing anything during this strike is the students. At the end of this strike, whenever that may be, colleges will re-open and things will return to normal. Students will apply to start new courses in the fall and nothing will have changed for the colleges. At the end of this strike, teachers will return to their classrooms and resume teaching, maybe teaching less hours, but still teaching and things will go back to normal for them. At the end of this strike, what will happen to the students? The students will return to their classes, and be expected to learn what would have been taught in half a semester now compressed into a few weeks. This proposal does not seem to meet any collegeâs goal of a quality education.
Many people argue that the quality of the studentsâ education is at the heart of this strike. The reality of this strike is that, we the student cannot receive the service for which we have paid. In terms of strikes, this is one of the only times where the customer ultimately suffers as a result of a strike. For example, if an airline goes on strike, the paying public can use a different airline. If a steel mill goes on strike, the customer can buy their steel from another mill. In the case of the students, who are paying customers of the colleges, what option do we have? I cannot go to another college, theyâre all closed as a result of the strike. Equally I cannot complete my semester by attending a University, that is not a workable option. This situation ultimately leaves the students stuck in the middle of a power struggle between two groups that claim to have the interests of the student at heart but have only hurt the students to this point.
To assuage the fears of students, the colleges have come out with their âSemester Completion Strategyâ This strategy includes extending the semester, teaching classes in the evenings and on weekends, and cutting out non-essential class material. Has this plan eased the fears of students? Well it has not eased mine, or anyone else that I have talked to since they were unveiled. The plan to save the semester is at best wishful thinking and at worst just a diversionary tactic because the colleges do not really know what they are going to do. I would rather the colleges come out and say we do not know what we can do until the strike ends. That would be the truth. Instead, students are forced to accept âthe planâ. How will scheduling extra classes during the evenings and on weekends affect the students that work during the those times, whether it is out of necessity or just to have extra spending money to enjoy their lives. Early responses from the colleges to the aforementioned problem are that if you show financial need, you will be accommodated. Under this plan, students that are in a better financial situation will not be accommodated. If you are going to take away my ability to work during the evenings and on the weekends, then I should be compensated for my lost wages regardless of my financial situation. Of even more concern to students is the plan to extend the semester into the month of May. Personally, every week that I am in school during the month of May, I will lose over $550 dollars. At this time colleges have no plan to reimburse the students for wages that are lost because of this strike. Once again the students loses. Alternatively, a solution could be to take the wages the teachers would have earned during the strike and distribute those wages to students that are losing because of this strike.
Perhaps an issue that has been overlooked so far involves the information that the students have learned thus far into the semester. When the strike does end, students will be required to continue their classes with no leeway time to recall former course material that has not been covered in almost two months. Thus, in addition to having to cope with the increased work load that can be assumed because of the compressed timetable to finish the semester, students will also be expected to review material from before the strike started on their own time. This does not provide students with the best opportunity to succeed in their program. As for the probable classes on evenings and weekends, this does not leave the students time to do the assignments, homework, and study for tests and the quickly approaching exams. Under this plan, once again the student loses out.
I have pointed out many problems involved with the consequences of this strike. Perhaps it is time to allow the students, who in my opinion are the most affected by this situation, to help resolve these issues. Teachers say that increased class sizes have increased their workload because of the increased number of classes and labs to be taught, and assignments and tests to be graded. A solution to this problem can be seen by following the example of local universities. Most universities employ higher semester students to work as teachers assistants. These new college teachers assistants could teach the labs, mark assignments and grade tests. This would greatly reduce the workload of the teachers of early semester programs where the student to teacher ratio is the highest. This would cost far less then hiring all the extra teachers that the teachers union would like to see hired to solve the problem. It would also give the students valuable experience when they finish their program.
The students have been described as the pawns of this strike. Well in chess it is the pawns that are sacrificed first while the more important pieces are put in place. And we have seen this is exactly what has occurred during this strike. I say it is time that the students are put first and this strike ends. I dare suggest that if both sides agree that students are the priority then we should finish the semester now and this strike should continue when it does not affect the students. I now call on the student leadership across the province to begin organizing anti-strike protests. It is time that the studentsâ voice is heard. I suggest that these protests continue at all the colleges until this strike ends. It is time for the pawns to become the kings and queens of this chess game and bring about an end to this strike and completion of our semester.
That is the letter in its entirety. What do you guys think?
As the college teachers strike heads towards the end of its third week, I find myself as a student caught in the middle of this strike with more questions than answers. The only thing that I know at this point is that the only party losing anything during this strike is the students. At the end of this strike, whenever that may be, colleges will re-open and things will return to normal. Students will apply to start new courses in the fall and nothing will have changed for the colleges. At the end of this strike, teachers will return to their classrooms and resume teaching, maybe teaching less hours, but still teaching and things will go back to normal for them. At the end of this strike, what will happen to the students? The students will return to their classes, and be expected to learn what would have been taught in half a semester now compressed into a few weeks. This proposal does not seem to meet any collegeâs goal of a quality education.
Many people argue that the quality of the studentsâ education is at the heart of this strike. The reality of this strike is that, we the student cannot receive the service for which we have paid. In terms of strikes, this is one of the only times where the customer ultimately suffers as a result of a strike. For example, if an airline goes on strike, the paying public can use a different airline. If a steel mill goes on strike, the customer can buy their steel from another mill. In the case of the students, who are paying customers of the colleges, what option do we have? I cannot go to another college, theyâre all closed as a result of the strike. Equally I cannot complete my semester by attending a University, that is not a workable option. This situation ultimately leaves the students stuck in the middle of a power struggle between two groups that claim to have the interests of the student at heart but have only hurt the students to this point.
To assuage the fears of students, the colleges have come out with their âSemester Completion Strategyâ This strategy includes extending the semester, teaching classes in the evenings and on weekends, and cutting out non-essential class material. Has this plan eased the fears of students? Well it has not eased mine, or anyone else that I have talked to since they were unveiled. The plan to save the semester is at best wishful thinking and at worst just a diversionary tactic because the colleges do not really know what they are going to do. I would rather the colleges come out and say we do not know what we can do until the strike ends. That would be the truth. Instead, students are forced to accept âthe planâ. How will scheduling extra classes during the evenings and on weekends affect the students that work during the those times, whether it is out of necessity or just to have extra spending money to enjoy their lives. Early responses from the colleges to the aforementioned problem are that if you show financial need, you will be accommodated. Under this plan, students that are in a better financial situation will not be accommodated. If you are going to take away my ability to work during the evenings and on the weekends, then I should be compensated for my lost wages regardless of my financial situation. Of even more concern to students is the plan to extend the semester into the month of May. Personally, every week that I am in school during the month of May, I will lose over $550 dollars. At this time colleges have no plan to reimburse the students for wages that are lost because of this strike. Once again the students loses. Alternatively, a solution could be to take the wages the teachers would have earned during the strike and distribute those wages to students that are losing because of this strike.
Perhaps an issue that has been overlooked so far involves the information that the students have learned thus far into the semester. When the strike does end, students will be required to continue their classes with no leeway time to recall former course material that has not been covered in almost two months. Thus, in addition to having to cope with the increased work load that can be assumed because of the compressed timetable to finish the semester, students will also be expected to review material from before the strike started on their own time. This does not provide students with the best opportunity to succeed in their program. As for the probable classes on evenings and weekends, this does not leave the students time to do the assignments, homework, and study for tests and the quickly approaching exams. Under this plan, once again the student loses out.
I have pointed out many problems involved with the consequences of this strike. Perhaps it is time to allow the students, who in my opinion are the most affected by this situation, to help resolve these issues. Teachers say that increased class sizes have increased their workload because of the increased number of classes and labs to be taught, and assignments and tests to be graded. A solution to this problem can be seen by following the example of local universities. Most universities employ higher semester students to work as teachers assistants. These new college teachers assistants could teach the labs, mark assignments and grade tests. This would greatly reduce the workload of the teachers of early semester programs where the student to teacher ratio is the highest. This would cost far less then hiring all the extra teachers that the teachers union would like to see hired to solve the problem. It would also give the students valuable experience when they finish their program.
The students have been described as the pawns of this strike. Well in chess it is the pawns that are sacrificed first while the more important pieces are put in place. And we have seen this is exactly what has occurred during this strike. I say it is time that the students are put first and this strike ends. I dare suggest that if both sides agree that students are the priority then we should finish the semester now and this strike should continue when it does not affect the students. I now call on the student leadership across the province to begin organizing anti-strike protests. It is time that the studentsâ voice is heard. I suggest that these protests continue at all the colleges until this strike ends. It is time for the pawns to become the kings and queens of this chess game and bring about an end to this strike and completion of our semester.
That is the letter in its entirety. What do you guys think?