Don’t conflate education, child care

Make teachers essential, Letter Dec. 3

Re: Make teachers essential, Letter Dec. 3

In saying that teachers are “essential to the daily routine of families,” letter writer Sean O’Connor is erroneously conflating “education” with “child care.”

High school teachers do not provide child care. When a 16-year -ld student skips class, it is an “education” problem, not a “child care” problem. While primary school children always need child care, they can survive weeks of vacation without formal education.

In past years when most mothers were homemakers, they did not depend on teachers for child care. Now, when teachers are more educated than they ever were, why are they regarded as “essential” child-care providers?

Yes, child-care is “essential,” given the fact that most mothers today work outside the home, and schools do conveniently fulfil the need for child-care for six hours of the day. However, these realities do not justify changing the role of teacher from “educator” to “babysitter” in order to eliminate the right to strike.

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Linda Genova, Toronto