High-schoolers strike over scrapped field trips

Around half a million high school students skipped class on Wednesday to protest the cancellation of field trips in recent months following a teachers’ union dispute.

The strike, called by the National Student and Youth Council, is likely to last until at least the end of the week, and possibly beyond.

Students announced the action in anger over the cancellation of school field trips in recent months, which is due to a dispute between the Association of Secondary School Teachers and the Education Ministry regarding teachers’ liability for students’ safety during trips.

Teachers have refused to take part in field trips so long as they do not receive legal protection from the ministry in cases of student injuries during excursions. The teachers have complained about being deemed fully responsible for any such harm and have demanded immunity from personal lawsuits.

But Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein stated in a legal opinion submitted to the ministry recently that sweeping immunity for teachers was unjustified and urged authorities to find alternative solutions to the conflict.

As for the student council, it has called on pupils to use their free time for independent field trips, and has even organized several such excursions in cooperation with the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and several private tour companies.

Meanwhile parents’ organizations and local authorities have appealed to labor courts for an injunction against the teachers’ association which would force them to resume chaperoning field trips. That appeal will be reviewed on Thursday.