Nine days after announcing that schools would remain closed until September the government did a sudden 180. Teachers were out of the loop, and it wasn’t a smooth transition. Stephen Wentzell speaks with the minister, the union, and a teacher to find out what went wrong, and how a heatwave made things even worse.
Media release: The union representing school support staff at all Regional Centres for Education and the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial is calling on Premier Rankin to listen to the educational support staff who do the actual work of maintaining schools and keeping students safe.
Statement by Educators for Social Justice: An author should not be made to re-write or sanitize her work in order to sugar-coat Canada’s history of the genocide of Indigenous people. The DEECD should recognize this and renew contact with Rebecca Thomas and her publisher to continue forward with a bulk purchase of her book in its original form.
Open letter: As an owner/operator of a daycare centre and after school program, I am adding my voice to the call for equal compensation for all early childhood educators in Nova Scotia!
Letter: The individuals we leave our children with daily have a huge impact on their lives. They shape their little minds and their little souls. They make them happy, teach them so many things and are their shoulder to cry. Not only are they changing their lives today, but they’re impacting an entire generation for our province. It’s terribly disappointing to realize these crucial human beings are making such little money.
Letter: “As centers face ongoing challenges of decreased enrollment and departures of trained and experienced Early Childhood Educators from childcare centers, what will ultimately happen to the childcare system for our youngest citizens? How can parents be active participants in the workforce without childcare?”
This pandemic has shown that ECEs are essential for daycares to run, so parents can work, and for children to have quality care. I feel it is unfair for us ECEs, who are an important part of children’s development, to be left with debt and the fear of poverty.
Letter: “One would think that after 31 years of service working for the same employer, I would be retired or planning my retirement. Unfortunately this is not the case, as my employer cannot afford a pension plan for it’s staff. Who by the way deserve a great pension plan!!!! So I will have to keep working until I am 65 years old and maybe older in a job that is physically and mentally demanding.”
There is a substantial wage and benefits gap between Early Childhood Educators employed by child care centres and those who work at the provincial pre-primary program. At a press conference hosted by Nova Scotia NDP MLA Claudia Chender, early childhood educators explained why this is not only unfair, it’s also creating all kinds of problems for child care centres throughout the province.
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.