‘They’ll pick up where they left off’: students, parents, tutors discuss keeping minds sharp during teachers’ strike

While schools are closed because of a teacher strike, some Alberta students are trying to continue their studies. CTV News Edmonton's Connor Hogg reports.

School is out for the foreseeable future, and some students are looking to stay sharp – although one professor said that may not be worth panicking about quite yet.

Ahana Khaitan is one of hundreds of thousands of Alberta students with a lot more free time on her hands as the province-wide teachers’ strike closes the curtain on day two.

“I’m kind of happy but sad at the same time because I don’t get to see my friends,” Khaitan, who is in grade seven, told CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday.

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“Our future grades are going to get impacted and we’re not going to know much for our future career.”

Khaitan attends Edmonton’s Vteach Learning Centre, which is offering half-day and full-day camps for kids while teachers strike.

Last week, the Alberta government announced it would offer a parent toolkit in the event of a teachers’ strike to mitigate learning loss.

The Alberta Teachers’ Association, of which 51,000 members officially walked off the job on Monday, is on its second day of record-breaking job action as both parties clashed over wages and working conditions.

Some organizations have already said the province’s curriculum guide, meant to cover grades K to 12, may not be enough.

Vteach’s director, Manisha, said their centre was using the toolkit as more of a “guideline” while offering their own extra-curricular programs in trying to take some of the pressure off of parents who may not be equipped to educate.

‘We’re not trying to replace schools by any means, but it’s essentially for kids to be able to supplement whatever they might be doing at school,” she said.

Manisha added that some parents may be on higher alert after the COVID-19 pandemic cut class time for many of the same students five years ago.

“All of a sudden, kids are at home, and maybe parents aren’t equipped with all of the resources to be able to teach their kids,” she said.

“We wanted to step in and be able to help the community, work with the kids and have the option for parents to be at peace with the fact that there’s a place they can send their kids to study.”

Sarah Hamilton, an assistant professor of education at Mount Royal University in Calgary, said there shouldn’t be reason to panic yet about your child’s learning loss.

“Teachers are not going to base where they pick up curriculum on how much work their students have done throughout the strike. They’ll pick it up back where they left off,” she told CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday.

“I think one of the things that we did learn [after COVID-19] is the value of in-person learning. But I don’t want to equate that to what’s going on here, because this is a very different situation.”

Hamilton added that much of the concern for younger students should be interactive and immersive play that give them the opportunity to engage.

“Each student is going to be an individual case. There are likely going to be some students who are engaging in the material more, and you may see them coming in more familiar with it,” she said.

“Are they necessarily going to be ahead of others? It depends on the students, so I don’t know if I can answer that one with any certainty.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Connor Hogg