Hi there. In this education post, I share some thoughts and notes on school strikes. When I was younger I had to go through a school strike. I had no school for a certain period of time and had to learn things on my own while the teachers were on strike. I was around 5 or 6 years old so I had no idea what was going on.
The main motivation behind this post was based on this recent news of the province of Alberta in Canada where many teachers went on strike.
I go over the impacts of a school strike on students and parents.
Impact On Parents
There is no school for the young students when the teachers are on strike. The kids would be staying home which causes additional stress for parents. It is likely that the parents would be out of the house at work. Someone has to take care of the kids. The parents could hire a nanny or a baby sitter. The parents could also ask other adult family members to look after the kids during the strike.
For parents that work remotely online, they can look after the kids at home and work remotely. There would still be additional responsibilities such as cooking meals, making sure kids are learning at home during a strike.
Parents with funds may consider hiring a tutor to get the students learning while they are not at school. Getting the kids to do nothing is not good use of time. A tutor would help as someone to teach kids while the teachers are on strike.
Self Learning During Teacher Strike
When I was younger and went through a strike, I do remember having to do some self learning and homework at home. There would be some reading and exercises you would do on your own. Parents can help if they are available.
Today, I would not know if lesson plans during a strike would be provided for all students. There could be the worst case scenario where no work is assigned during a strike. When students return, the teaching becomes super fast in order to catch up.
For the students and teachers, it is unknown how long a teachers strike goes on for. It could take a few days, a few weeks, one month or even more. During the strike period, the students are learning things on their own with or without specialized assistance. For the older students in high school, self learning is possible. Younger students may struggle with learning on their own as their skills are in development.
