Children in Quebec have lost many school days this year due to strikes. We clearly feel that the catch-up operation will not meet the needs.
· Read also: Where will you be on April 8 during the total solar eclipse?
No school day will be resumed. Not only are we not touching on spring break, but no one has even dared to suggest cleaning up the famous pedagogical days for the second half of the calendar.
I admit that in this context, my arms are falling when I see certain school service centers announcing the closure of schools for April 8. Why April 8? Because at the end of the afternoon, a complete solar eclipse will be visible in several regions of Quebec.
A solar eclipse? We’re closing the school. I sometimes have the impression that some people work full time to find reasons to close schools. Or that others make a parlor game of finding the most original reason to do it.
- Listen to the interview with Julie Bolduc-Duval, astronomer and science communicator speaking to Mario Dumont via QUB:
Official closures
Two service centers in the Eastern Townships have already announced their decision to close schools that day. Others are still being considered. Clarification: Quebec is not the only place where we are considering closing schools. In Ontario, some school boards have already given notice and others say they are considering it.
The complete solar eclipse is a rare phenomenon. The last one that was visible in Quebec dates back to 1972, on the North Shore. And we will have to wait until 2106 to see the next one. It is therefore not the frequency of the event that is startling in this news, but more the lightness with which a new pretext causes another day of school to be skipped in a year already so disrupted.
They say they do it in the name of security. It is known: you should not look directly at a solar eclipse. Significant and non-repairable damage could affect the retina of the eye. When returning home, or moving to school transport, students risk making this mistake.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY SPACE FOR LIFE
Protect miraculously?
However, what gives us confidence that if children are on leave, if they stay at home, they will not be exposed to exactly the same risk? Perhaps even worse, if they are left unsupervised.
Why not take advantage of the moment to talk about astronomy, the rotation of the stars, the phenomenon of eclipse and the danger for the eyes? The logic of closing schools and leaving young people at home sincerely escapes me.
Some defend themselves by saying they simply moved these educational days. Two problems: first, you send a terrible message to young people about the importance of a day at school. Then, if the day is moveable for such a futile reason, it is because it could well have been used to take back one of the days lost due to strikes.
Let’s say that for the academic success of children in 2023-24, the stars are misaligned…