Ontario Teachers' Strike Paralyses Publicly-Funded Schools, Over 2 Million Students Remain Out Of Class

The Ontario province-wide strike of elementary and secondary school teachers and their supporters completely shut down the schools having over two million students, reports the Global News.

About 30,000 teacher members, belonging to four teachers' unions -- the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO), Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF), Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA), and Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO) -- participated in the walkout and demonstrated on the compounds of the Queen's Park, the provincial parliament in Toronto. 

The bones of contention were disagreement on the class sizes, full-day kindergarten, e-learning, teachers' compensation, special education, and teacher hiring. 

For further details, please read the following:

• Entire Ontario public school system closed, millions out of class Friday as teachers strike (Feb. 21, 2020)
• 'We're in it for the kids': Education unions lead thousands in job action at Queen's Park (Feb. 21, 2020)
• These are the key issues in the Ontario teachers' disputes with the province (Feb. 21, 2020)
• Ontario's teachers' unions walk off job together in provincewide strike (Feb. 21, 2020)
• Teachers surround Ontario legislature during provincewide strike (Feb. 21, 2020)

All photos above (in Queen's Park, 

Toronto: Feb. 21, 2020) © Jerome D'Costa