In the wake of wildfire outbreaks tearing through Alberta, which have destroyed infrastructure, homes and razed an estimated one million or more hectares of forest, the province recently announced only students evacuated for 10 days would be exempted from writing Grade 12 diploma examinations.
While public attention is understandably focused on the immediate impacts of the wildfires on communities, including the urgent efforts of schools to cope, the announcement was also out of touch with widespread existential concern among students for their futures.
As students, principals and teachers shared with us, the arbitrary 10-day window failed to recognize the widespread anxiety and uncertainty across central and northern Alberta triggered by the unprecedented wildfires and on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic.
