{"id":220753,"date":"2025-10-17T22:06:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T22:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/220753\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T22:06:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T22:06:13","slug":"diploma-exams-made-optional-as-teachers-reject-albertas-request-to-end-strike-enter-mediation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/220753\/","title":{"rendered":"Diploma exams made optional as teachers reject Alberta\u2019s request to end strike, enter mediation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\tDescrease article font size<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tIncrease article font size<\/p>\n<p>The union representing Alberta teachers says it has turned down a request from the government to end a provincewide strike on Monday and go through enhanced mediation.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760146148_446_70c8fc80.png\" alt=\"\" style=\"position:absolute;width:1px;height:1px\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\"\/><\/p>\n<p>It comes on the same day the province announced high school students preparing to take diploma exams next month will have the option to skip them.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/tag\/alberta-teachers-association\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Alberta Teachers\u2019 Association<\/a> president Jason Schilling said the mediation request came in a letter Thursday and the proposal left him and the union feeling \u201cinsulted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said he would expect the mediation process to be biased, since the province said it\u2019s not willing to discuss caps on classroom sizes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis limitation undermines any attempt at resolution,\u201d Schilling said Friday.<\/p>\n<p>The caps are a main sticking point in the contract dispute, alongside wages, and Schilling said teachers aren\u2019t willing to back down.<\/p>\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>He said the union, which represents 51,000 teachers, responded to the letter and is waiting on a response.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"170\" height=\"225\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760146149_837_national.jpg\" alt=\"For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tGet breaking National news<\/p>\n<p>For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.<\/p>\n<p>Schilling didn\u2019t rule out the possibility of ending the strike if the province moves on the terms of mediation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf they want to send a letter back and try \u2026 to improve the process, then we will look at what it is and then respond,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Premier Danielle Smith and her education minister were set to hold a news conference later Friday.<\/p>\n<p>The strike, which began Oct. 6, has kept about 740,000 students out of 2,500 schools.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore on Canada<br \/>\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>The two sides met Tuesday for the first time since the walkout, but formal talks haven\u2019t resumed.<\/p>\n<p>Diploma exams optional<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, the province also announced diploma exams scheduled to take place in November will now be optional for students.<\/p>\n<p>Students who wish to write a diploma exam may request to do so, and their school boards will accommodate the request.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\tTrending Now\n\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11480756\/britney-spears-responds-kevin-federline-memoir-allegations\/\" class=\"c-posts__inner\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-posts__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760738771_426_GettyImages-134676700-e1659970778516.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"336\" height=\"224\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\u2018I have had enough\u2019: Britney Spears responds to Kevin Federline allegations\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11482400\/carney-border-security-measures\/\" class=\"c-posts__inner\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-posts__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Carney-border.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"336\" height=\"224\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\tBudget will include funds for hiring 1,000 new CBSA officers, Carney says\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The optional exams apply to all schools provincewide. The exams will still take place on the currently scheduled dates.<\/p>\n<p>Choosing not to write the November diploma exams will not affect a student\u2019s ability to apply to, be accepted by, or attend post-secondary institutions after graduation.<\/p>\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Students who choose not to write the November diplomas can still complete their courses and graduate on time. Their final grade will be based entirely on the school-awarded mark provided by their teacher.<\/p>\n<p>No changes have been made to the January and June diplomas and provincial achievement tests, the government said.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: 'Talks stall between Alberta teachers, government in provincewide strike'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760738772_400_5P_AB_TEACHERS_OCT_15.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"   data-\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1:55<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTalks stall between Alberta teachers, government in provincewide strike\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\tPrevious Video<\/p>\n<p>\t\tNext Video<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t&amp;copy 2025 The Canadian Press\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Descrease article font size Increase article font size The union representing Alberta teachers says it has turned down&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220754,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7611,60893,64916,49,48,549,44,714],"class_list":{"0":"post-220753","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-alberta-legislature","9":"tag-alberta-teachers-association","10":"tag-alberta-teachers-strike","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-education","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}