Children in Quebec have missed many days of school this year due to strikes. Clearly, we feel that the catch-up process will not meet the needs.
· Read also: Where will you be on April 8 during the total solar eclipse?
The school day will not resume. Not only are we not even mentioning spring break, but no one even dared to suggest cleaning up the popular educational days for the second half of the calendar.
I admit, in this context, that my arms drop when I see some school service centers announcing the closure of schools on April 8. Why April 8? Because at the end of the afternoon, a complete solar eclipse will be visible in several areas of Quebec.
Solar eclipse? We are closing the school. Sometimes I get the impression that some people work full time to find reasons to close schools. Or others make a parlor game to find the most original reason to do so.
- Listen to the interview with Julie Bolduc Duval, astronomer and science communicator speaks to Mario Dumont on QUB:
Official closures
Two service centers in the eastern towns have already announced their decision to close schools on that day. Others are still under consideration. Clarification: Quebec is not the only place where we are considering school closures. In Ontario, some school boards have already issued a notice, and others say they are considering it.
A complete solar eclipse is a rare phenomenon. The last one seen in Quebec dates back to 1972, on the North Shore. We will have to wait until 2106 to see the next event. So, it's not the repetition of the event that's surprising about this news, but rather the lightness with which a new excuse causes another day of school to be skipped in an already disrupted year.
They say they do this in the name of security. It is known that it is not permissible to look directly at a solar eclipse. Significant and irreversible damage can affect the retina. When returning home, or transferring to school transportation, students risk making this mistake.
Miraculously protected?
However, what gives us confidence that if children are on vacation, if they stay home, they will not be exposed to exactly the same risk? Perhaps even worse, if they are left unattended.
Why don't you take advantage of this moment to talk about astronomy, the rotation of stars, the phenomenon of eclipses, and their danger to the eyes? The logic of closing schools and leaving young people at home honestly escapes me.
Some defend themselves by saying that they simply transferred these educational days. There are two problems: First, you are sending a terrible message to young people about the importance of having a day at school. Then if the day is moved for such a trivial reason, it is because it could have been used to restore one of the days lost to strikes.
Let's assume that for children's academic success in 2023-2024, the stars are not aligned…
