Niagara College students headed back to class
Niagara College students will be back in class Tuesday and will be studying through the Christmas break now that the provincial government has put an end to a five- week- long teachers strike.
To make up for lost classroom time, the semester will extend to Jan. 10, said Michael Wales, manager of communications for the college.
“Classes will run to Dec. 22, then resume Jan. 2 and the fall semester will end on Jan. 10,” he said Sunday afternoon.
Wales said the exact semester completion date will vary for students depending in which programs they are enrolled.
Had it not been for the strike, the fall semester would have concluded prior to the break as normal.
Niagara College faculty are expected to return to work today and course details will be posted to an internal website for students by the end of the day.
The next semester will begin Jan. 15, Wales said.
Ontario on Sunday legislated college faculty back to work.
“We are very anxious to welcome our students back to the classroom and turn our energies toward a successful completion of the term,” Niagara College president Dan Patterson said in an emailed statement. “We are hard at work ensuring that information, resources and support are firmly in place for students when classes resume.”
Colleges are extending their semesters so students don’t lose their terms, but trying to condense five missed weeks into roughly two extra ones will be very stressful, student advocates say.
In Niagara College’s case, it is four weeks because a reading week break was previously scheduled within the time that the strike dragged on.
“It’s going to be a very busy rest of the semester for students,” said Joel Willett, president of the College Student Alliance. “They have indicated to us that they are very frustrated.”
The group is pushing for students who feel they won’t be able to complete their semesters to be able to withdraw and receive refunds, Willett said.
The provincial government has ordered the colleges to create a fund — using savings from the strike, for example by not paying faculty wages — to help students who may be experiencing financial hardship because of the labour dispute.
Advanced Education Minister Deb Matthews has estimated that amount would be about $ 5 million.
“This terrible chapter is over,” she said.
About 500,000 students have
It’s going to be a very busy rest of the semester for students. They have indicated to us that they are very frustrated.”
Joel Willett, president of the College Student Alliance
been out of class since the strike by 12,000 professors, instructors, counsellors and librarians began Oct. 15. Ontario’s 24 colleges have said they would need two days to restart classes, meaning students will be back Tuesday.
The colleges welcomed the back- to- work legislation, saying all efforts at the bargaining table had been exhausted.
“The strike has been incredibly disruptive to students and we needed to end it,” Sonia Del Missier, head of the colleges’ bargaining team, said in a statement.
Ontario Public Service Employees Union said it is looking at the possibility of a constitutional challenge to the legislation.
The Liberal government first attempted to introduce its back towork bill Thursday evening, after restarted talks between the colleges and the faculty’s union reached an impasse.
But unanimous consent of all parties was needed, and the NDP refused, leading the government to introduce the legislation Friday.
It was debated through special weekend sittings in which the NDP argued it takes away workers’ rights and only comes after the Liberals failed to bring the two sides together during the past five weeks.