Although Callista states that her right to education is being “violated,” this is false. Pushing back the start of the school year does not mean that her right to education is magically being taken away. We are in Canada, and not in Pakistan where the right to education is legitimately being taken away from young girls and boys alike, a problem that Malala Yousafzai almost died for. Your right to an education is simply not being infringed upon, and that is fact.
School has not been “cancelled;” it is simply delayed. The BCTF is merely putting their rights “to form and to join trade unions” or “to just and favourable conditions of work” (Article 23 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) into action. If people weren’t unionising and fighting for their rights, we would still have eight-year-old children working as chimney sweeps or coal miners.
The point that Callista makes about teachers not being “allowed in the building before school.. and after school” is also false. Teachers were in fact allowed to stay for 45 minutes before and after the bell, which is plenty of time to ask any questions related to the provincial exams. Sure, many teachers used this time for lesson preparation, but my teachers were more than happy to use this time for our benefit to answer any questions that we might have had. Of course, not all teacher are as benevolent as mine, which is quite a shame.
As a fellow student of the exact same age, I can sympathize with you quite a bit. Having one school day taken away every week was certainly damaging, especially before I had to write three provincial exams. Not having the essay on the English 10 provincial dropped my mark as well. However, the one-sided view and the lack of correct information that you give of the situation takes away a certain dimension of complexity which is the reason that this issue is so difficult to solve.
However, I definitely agree that students have been caught in the O.K Corral, and the rhetoric that the BCTF and the Clark government that “it’s for the children” is insulting and unhelpful.
