“We’re miles apart” – Dalhousie Faculty Association files for conciliator
Collective bargaining at Dalhousie University has reached an impasse, and the Dalhousie Faculty Association (DFA) has filed for a provincially-appointed conciliator.
Education
Back to school in a pandemic – Safety means smaller classes
School has started, but it’s not too late for governments to listen to the experts (teachers, medical professionals, parents) and make plans to transition to smaller classes now before a second wave hits us and forces us to shut down schools entirely, writes Molly Hurd.
Media release: Students provided with no relief while returning to university in pandemic
Media release: Students are headed back to school this fall feeling the same as when classes abruptly ended six months ago, stressed and frustrated.
Op-ed: ANSUT supports scholars strike for Black lives
The Association of Nova Scotia University Teachers (ANSUT), which represents over 1,400 full-time faculty, librarians and contract academic staff throughout Nova Scotia, supports Scholar Strike. ANSUT encourages faculty, administration and students to be aware of the movement and to stand in solidarity with actions that support racial justice, and protest anti-Black police violence and anti-Indigenous colonial violence.
Pandemic challenges inclusive education policies in Nova Scotia, and parents are worried
2020 will be the year that the provincial department of education will see its inclusion policies challenged in practice by the pandemic. Parents fear that it will not pass the test. Brooklyn Connolly reports.
Media Release: NSGEU doubles down – Calls for better safety protocols for students and staff in schools
Media release: The NSGEU stands with the Nova Scotia Teacher’s Union (NSTU) in calling for improved safety in schools, plus a delayed opening, in order to ensure a safe school experience for workers and students in Nova Scotia.
Danny Cavanagh: Many families cannot afford to take time off without paid sick leave
Danny Cavanagh: “We continue to be baffled by the assumption in the reopening plan that all families have the resources to simply “stay the blazes home” when their students exhibit symptoms of COVID-19.”
Press release: Schools aren’t safe or ready for reopening
Press release: NSTU President Paul Wozney says schools are currently in a state of chaos and aren’t ready to welcome students back next week. He says the Regional Centres for Education (RCEs) and the Conseil Scolaire Acadien Provincial (CSAP) are entirely focused on trying to promote the government’s unsafe return to school plan to the public. As a result the basic things that should take place on the ground to prepare schools for learning just aren’t happening.
Paul Wozney: Nova Scotians deserve a better back to school plan
the government’s plan is not good enough. We need to do better. We need a plan so students can get back to school where they can learn and belong safely, and keeps students at school for the long haul so we aren’t all back in lockdown come Thanksgiving.
Parent group and teachers union demand a better back-to-school plan
A press conference by parents and teachers this morning raised questions around the province’s back-to-school plan that, with just 10 days to go, are becoming increasingly urgent.