Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

The third week of the Ontario’s College strike has many of their students worried they may lose an entire semester. Especially concerned are students in apprenticeship and other programs that mandate a certain number of hours for certification. And any time away raises huge concerns, given they need those hours in order to write provincial exams.

Premier Kathleen Wynne is not ruling out back-to-work legislation for 12,000 college faculty now on strike, warning she and Ontario Post-secondary Minister Deb Matthews “expect” both sides to get back to bargaining table.

As of Tuesday, October 31, 2017, no talks are scheduled.

Ontario college students are also worried that in order to save the school year, it could instead be extended adding to their expenses and interfering with job plans.

In the past, a college semester had never been lost because of a faculty strike.

According to Niagara College communications, some colleges are developing plans to ensure this doesn’t happen. Certain Ontario colleges would create semester completion programs and post them once the strike is resolved. The proposed plans will ensure that all students have appropriate access to faculty, lab time and key course components to ensure that learning outcomes are met, leaving some students and teachers wondering how the colleges will cram the full semester’s work into the weeks that remain, once it ends.