A small group of Montreal teachers held a silent protest Saturday afternoon to show the government how much extra work they do.
They held the so- called "mark-in," bringing students' assignments to grade outdoors, at Place des Arts. For teachers, a paid work week consists of 32 hours. Any time put in on evenings or weekends is unpaid.
“What we actually work is 40 plus hours a week, sometimes over 50. Depends on the time of the year, when marks are in, when report cards are due,” said Royal West Academy teacher James Dufault.
They spend those hours grading their students’ work, planning classes and running extra-curricular activities, which have been dropped at many schools now that work-to-rule is in place.
“It's sometimes like walking through a graveyard, just because everyone is a little sadder because the school environment isn't where it's supposed to be,” said Vincent Massey Collegiate teacher Lev Berner.
One teacher said it takes her 10 minutes to mark assignments, and with 60 students, that’s 600 minutes of extra work.
The "mark-in" is just one of the pressure tactics teachers are using to get the government to listen. The issues include the province wanting to increase class sizes, freeze salaries and cut funding to certain programs, including those for students with special needs.
Strike days are scheduled in the coming weeks, but some are hopeful it won't come to that.
“It looks like things are moving in the right direction. In the last week there's been some hope and it would be great for everyone for this thing to be resolved so we could get back to business as usual,” said English Montreal School Board spokesperson Michael Cohen.
