因应教师罢工危机

                博雅学会提出多项倡议

三月上旬，本省教师工会在与省府谈判过程中，投票通过了可于90日之内发动教师罢工的议案。本省教育近年来已然下滑，教师罢工将会带来更严重的损害。就此，博雅教育学会向省府、教师工会和广大省民呼吁∶保障孩子们受教育的权利和纳税人对公立教育的发言权；并提出五项具体倡议，以期通过更为合理的途径解决有关矛盾冲突。

呼吁书已经或即将送达省府、省教育厅、教师工会等有关机腹。

以下为呼吁书英文版全文∶

THE EDUCATIONAL QUEST SOCIETY OF CANADA appeals:

SAFEGUARDING OUR CHILDREN’S

RIGHT TO EDUCATION

During this time when we have barely emerged from the shadow of the teachers’ strike two years ago, BC public school teachers voted overwhelmingly in favor of job action within 90 days, depending on the situation of negotiations with the BC government.

Once again we are facing a threat that the education in BC will be left high and dry; once again, our children are likely to be held as hostages.

Undeniably, these on-and-off strikes have had an exacerbating impact on BC’s education system as well as on the economy, yet it appears there is next to nothing that people can do about it. The Educational Quest Society of Canada, a non-profit, non-governmental society for education, would like to raise the following concerns and recommendations.

First of all, the strike mainly concerns the benefit of the teachers as a group. What about the interests of the students? Can the right to schooling of more than half a million students be deprived? How and by whom can the damage to the students’ education, their parents’ jobs, and to the long term growth of the economy in BC be compensated?

Secondly, unlike other professions, education is deemed to be an indispensable social service and is financially supported by taxpayers. A strike in public education is nothing but an infringement on the rights and interests of taxpayers and is essentially aimed at all British Columbians. Is it rational that an issue of this significance should be determined just between the teachers’ union and the government, without any consultation with the parents and other concerned citizens?

Thirdly, monopoly is the bane of society and should not exist in any trade or profession. In BC, teachers have to become union members to stay as employees in school boards. This system virtually puts our public education at the mercy of the sole interested group in the field, causing frequent unrests in public compulsory education. It is high time that this monopoly be ended.

Fourthly, Canada’s and BC’s education system was regarded to be among the best in the world; but the last dozen of years have seen a serious decline, as pointed out by CMEC in its 2012 report:“Measuring up: Canadian Result of the OECD PISA Study”.

In fact, Canada was edged out of the top ten countries or economies, and Canadian students’ PISA scores in Math, Reading and Science decreased by 14, 11, and 9 respectively.

Of particular concern for British Columbia is mathematics; here we have witnessed a statistically significant drop in PISA performance over the past twelve years. The number of students achieving the high level 5 and 6 dropped significantly, while those below the threshold of level 2 almost doubled.

In light of these findings, we believe the top priority for all stakeholders in BC’s education system should be to reflect on this looming crisis and develop immediate plans to stop the deteriorating trend.

Over the past two years, our Society has published research results, held forums, and called for the resumption of provincial examinations to keep our children from further falling behind.

But contrary to people’s wishes, we have seen no sign of reflection. What have dominated the media are endless bargaining and the dramatic threat of strikes.

According to a report on worldjournal.com in September 2013, the satisfaction level of Canadian towards public education nationwide is of average, with that in BC being the lowest, and Ontario being the second last. We have a reason to believe that the strong public dissatisfaction in the two provinces can be attributed to their frequent teachers’ strikes and other job actions.

Education is a highly respected profession, and teachers are looked up as role models by the students they teach. We have seen a substantial number of public school teachers who are dedicated and strive for excellence in their teaching. But their role as the backbone of public education is constrained by the current system. Their hard work and excellence are not adequately recognized and their voices are mostly neglected and muffled.  

As such, we, the Educational Quest Society of Canada, hereby make our appeals to the BC government, the BC Teachers’ Federation and public school administrators and teachers, as well as the general public:

1.      Place the highest priority on the interests of students and BC’s education. Safeguard our children’s right for education;

2.      Enact a regulation to demand that job actions by public school teachers and staff be subject to the vote of taxpayers. Before the regulation is set, public hearings should be held for a wide consultation with students and their parents, educational organizations, and the general public.

3.      Establish an effective teaching performance evaluation system to encourage a strong work ethic and quality teaching.  This would be used as the basis for the remuneration of teachers in BC’s public schools and would replace the current policy where salary is solely dependent on seniority.

4.      To break the monopoly system in public schools, allow the employment and maintain a certain percentage of non-union-members.

5.      In the event of a job action, call on volunteers to assist with students’ schooling or to take care of them, so that the negative impact from the job action could be reduced to the minimum.

With the future of our children at stake, please seek a more constructive, responsible and rational solution.

Educational Quest Society of Canada   March, 2014