Media release: Families and teachers are currently scrambling for information following the government’s sudden decision to restore in-person learning for the final weeks of June.
Media release: With schools now reopening, it’s critical the province allow for a full and transparent review of school COVID-19 cases says the NSTU. Given the hundreds of school aged children that tested positive for COVID in late April and early May, and the sheer volume of schools impacted, a vague number in a talking point is not sufficient to assure families that schools were not a source of community transmission less than a month ago.
At the end of a challenging year of online classes, Nova Scotia universities are voting to once again raise fees for the coming year. Today, an alliance of 20 higher-education unions, non-unionized workers, and student associations in Nova Scotia, formed at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, released an open letter to Premier Iain Rankin and Labour and Advanced Education Minister Lena Diab calling on them to step up to support struggling students.
The union representing workers at child care centres and all regional centres for education across the province is calling Premier Iain Rankin’s plan to reopen schools, while two regions are still under lockdown, as risky and unmanageable.
Media release: Premier Iain Rankin’s commitment to maintaining remote learning for the final few weeks of June brought closure and a level of certainty to students, teachers and families after COVID-19 ravaged the public school system in late April. Today’s announcement will generate more anxiety and needless confusion for families already struggling under the impacts of this pandemic, according to the NSTU.
The NSTU is calling on the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, Derek Mombourquette, to reconsider cuts targeted at Halifax area high schools for next year.
Media release: Parents and school communities deserve to be consulted on staffing changes at local schools and shouldn’t learn about deep teacher cuts through social media, says NSTU President Paul Wozney.
After two years of pandemic learning, the HRCE should be augmenting student support wherever possible, not making cuts to teaching positions at specific schools,” says NSTU President Paul Wozney.
Early childhood educators represented by CUPE are asking the minister for a smaller staff-to-children ratio, lower classroom capacity limits, defined cohorts and larger spaces, to reduce the potential spread of COVID-19 within child care centres.
Media release: The NSTU is concerned with an HRCE proposal to reduce staffing levels at schools across the HRM through the elimination of Unassigned Instructional Time (UIT). UIT is time during which teachers are scheduled to support students, other than facilitating learning for a whole class. Given the pressure COVID-19 has placed on the entire education system, NSTU President Paul Wozney says, now is an “inappropriate time to reduce resources that are critical to keeping students supported and safe at school.”