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 says 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.
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.
Both Jason Schilling, president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association Schilling and Nicolaides confirmed Thursday that further negotiation talks haven’t been scheduled ahead of Monday’s deadline.
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.
A walkout by the union’s 51,000 members would impact more than 700,000 students across 2,500 public, separate and francophone schools.
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