The current teachers’ strike is claiming another victim, this time it’s also hitting post-secondary students.
Next week education students in universities across the province are waiting to enter public school classrooms to start their teaching practicums. The ‘real world’ experience is integral to them completing their degrees in December and moving into their teaching careers.
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But at universities like Simon Fraser in Burnaby, there are almost 250 students who are now waiting and worrying their graduation could be in jeopardy due to the teachers’ strike.
“I’m very anxious and stressed out,” SFU education student Chelse Kirchmayer told Global News.
“Even not being able to have full contact with the person that I’m going to be doing my practicum with is very stressful.”
SFU education students like Kirchmayer and Tom Kertes were set to enter their classroom placements next week to begin their 10 to 12 week practicum. It’s a requirement of their degree in order to graduate in December, but with the public schools closed, they’re worried there won’t be enough time to meet that goal.
“A lot of us have made a lot of plans to be finishing this semester,” Kirchmayer says. “So it’s incredibly stressful to think, what if I can’t finish my practicum and have to come back in 2015 and finish.”
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For Kertes he thinks SFU needs to step up for their education students.
The Faculty of Education says it may eventually have to negotiate with the body that certifies teachers to see if students can be credited for other forms of work experience.
But as it stands, if students don’t begin their school placements by mid-October, they won’t finish the semester on time — and administrators have said they will pick up the bill.
“If this semester is lost to the strike those students who enrolled and paid tuition this semester we’d give them a tuition refund,” says Dr. Kris Magnusson, SFU Faculty of Education dean.
“So they wouldn’t be on the hook financially for something that’s out of their control.”
The future teachers say despite the uncertainty caused by the labour dispute, they still hope to work in the public school system.
~ with files from Tanya Beja
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