Student Protest at Sydenham High School

Wilma Kenny | Apr 05, 2019

A long line of students, many carrying placards, streamed down the between Sydenham High School and the South Frontenac Township Hall at noon Thursday (April 4). They were protesting the Ford governments proposed changes to the educational system.

Many of the students were well informed about the pending changes.

“They’re recommending four classes, one each year, to be done completely online,” said one girl, “we’ll lose most of our newest teachers because of cuts like these.”

Larger class sizes and fewer education assistants for special needs students were also frequently mentioned by the protestors.

Some of the students were pretty vague about what these proposed changes might be, or how they could effect classrooms and students, but they were in the minority.

The crowd rallied in the township parking lot, then cheerfully moved over to the football field when Township staff asked them to, so the parking lot could remain open to traffic.

Several teachers in orange jackets were on hand, but only as security. They expressed no opinions, saying the whole demonstration was a student initiative.

After some chanting and much waving of placards, everyone headed back to class.