N.S. students who stay home will receive learning materials from teachers
A week after in-person learning resumed in Nova Scotia, teachers are being told that in addition to in-class learning, they must also provide lessons for students who choose to stay home during the latest spike in COVID-19 cases.
A letter was sent to teachers Saturday night from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
Education Minister Becky Druhan said the letter was meant to emphasize one overall point.
"The students who need to be absent right now are to have access to learning materials,” said Druhan.
The email also included, "...teachers are asked to make work and assignments available to families whose children are home at this time.”
Druhan said teachers will not mix online teaching with in-class learning. She wants teachers to share assignments with students via email, other forms of online delivery or even through printed materials.
“We are not asking teachers to do anything that they don’t do normally. Or prepare any materials that they normally wouldn't be preparing anyway for in-class work," said Druhan. "It is not a hybrid model.”
According to Nova Scotia Teachers Union President Paul Wozney, many teachers were unhappy to receive the email. Beyond that he has some concerns.
"Can a kid remain on pace with their in-person peers?" asked Wozney who wants more information on the exact teaching plan going forward.
On the subject of a possible hybrid learning model, his message to the province is clear.
“It sets off a lot of warning bells and a lot of people are worried about what it could mean," said Wozney who added combined in-class and online learning did not work in Ontario.
“Parents hated it, students hated it and staff hated it," he said.
Last week Brittany Snow kept both of her children home from school. On the one hand, Snow applauds this latest move by the Education Minister.
“I think it is important to support families who have to choose to be at home," said Snow. "Whether it is their children or somebody live with who is immunocompromised.”
However, Snow has concern for teachers who are already facing mounting work-loads.
“They are burnt out just like most of us, so they are not going to be able to do this well," said Snow. "It is setting them up for an impossible task.”
Grade 12 student Jenna Kedy was happy to hear teachers will provide learning for students who stay home.
“I think that should always have been a thing. Even before COVID," said Kedy. "Kids with chronic illnesses or some thing that happened in a family; there’s always been a reason why kids have had to miss time.”
Kedy is still not sure if she will choose at-home or in-class learning.
“We are starting a new semester, so I feel a bit more pressure to go back," said Kedy. "There is so much the teachers can put online, but there are things that might not be translated to the internet.”
More information will be made available to Nova Scotia teachers in the coming days, outlining how to provide learning materials for students at home.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Former Air Canada employees among suspects identified in gold heist at Pearson Airport: police
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year, Peel Regional Police said Wednesday.
MPs summon ArriveCan contractor to the House to be admonished in rare parliamentary display
Enacting an extraordinarily rarely used parliamentary power, MPs have summoned an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon to be admonished publicly for failing to answer their questions.
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
Gas prices across Ontario expected to climb to levels not seen since 2022, analyst says
Ontario is going to see a big jump at the pumps later this week as gas prices in the province hit levels not seen in nearly two years, according to one industry analyst.
Ancient skeletons unearthed in France reveal Mafia-style killings
More than 5,500 years ago, two women were tied up and probably buried alive in a ritual sacrifice, using a form of torture associated today with the Italian Mafia, according to an analysis of skeletons discovered at an archaeological site in southwest France.
'Enormous sum of money': Actor Hugh Grant settles privacy lawsuit against tabloid
British actor Hugh Grant has settled a lawsuit against the publisher of Rupert Murdoch's tabloid newspaper, The Sun, over claims journalists used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house, he said on Wednesday.
O.J. Simpson was chilling with a beer on a couch before Easter, lawyer says. 2 weeks later he was dead
O.J. Simpson's last robust discussion with his longtime lawyer was just before Easter, at the country club home Simpson leased southwest of the Las Vegas Strip. About a week later, on April 5, a doctor said Simpson was 'transitioning.'
Some of the winners and losers in the 2024 federal budget
With a variety of fiscal and policy measures announced in the federal budget, winners include small businesses and fintech companies while losers include the tobacco industry and Canadian pension funds.
U.K. plan to phase out smoking for good passes first hurdle
The British government's plan for a landmark smoking ban that aims to stop young people from ever smoking cleared its first hurdle in Parliament on Tuesday despite vocal opposition from within Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party.