Budget good for education
Effective Oct. 1, Nova Scotia officially has an attendance policy, crafted by the Council to Improve Classroom Conditions.
The most important feature of this policy is that it gives teachers permission to deny a course credit to grades 10-12 students who exceed the 20 per cent benchmark (37 days per year). It was a response to complaints by teachers that there was no penalty for students who didn’t attend classes, and they felt pressured to pass them.
Education Minister Zack Churchill says students will be marked absent unless they are attending an activity directly related to their learning, or a school activity.
The members of that council wanted a policy based on positive interventions that addressed the different reasons for absenteeism, such as bullying, illness or dysfunctional home life versus hanging out at the mall.
Traditionally, there have been two parts to this problem. The first is tort laws which are civil laws based on negligence, liability and responsibility. “In Loco Parentis” (in place of the parent) is such a document and basically states that in certain situations, in the absences of the parent, schools (teachers and administrators) are expected to responsibly act in place of the parent.
In the past, teachers have been expected to make as many as four phone calls, write two letters and arrange one meeting with the parents for each truant student in their classes. That work usually occurred after class. Those ridiculous expectations were imposed solely to accommodate parents.
The two main responsibilities of classroom teachers are to maintain order and teach with due diligence. Why should classroom teachers have to carry out such accommodations? Most high schools have full-time principals and two full-time vice-principals and often two secretaries?
The second part was making classroom teachers responsible for the duties of former truant officers. The teacher’s only responsibility is to inform parents there is a truancy problem. Once informed, it becomes the parent’s responsibility;. It’s called parenting!
In an attempt to reduce such ridiculous expectations, government accepted the recommendation from the Council to Improve Classroom Conditions and agreed to create pilot projects with support staff to work with teachers to get absentee students back in classes. Those support workers should help to reduce truancy numbers, especially in cases where students are missing because of problems within the family.
In response to poverty and mental health challenges, the budget contains $1.1 million for breakfast programs with the intention of extending that to include lunch programs. Substantial money has been allocated to hire more school psychologists with the intention to have a mental health practitioner in every school by 2019.
It also includes major investment in early childhood education, which will save some parents between $800 and $1,000 per month. Those early childhood, play-centered classrooms for four-year-olds and staffed by early childhood professionals makes our system more comprehensive, and similar to successful Scandinavian education models. It places students into schools where the above mentioned services are available.
There was also $10 million allocated in the last budget for the second phase of the work by the Council to Improve Classroom Conditions, and $16 million for a committee to begin the process of producing a new inclusive education model. A tribunal of three women was appointed this past summer, and recently delivered an interim report. Hallelujah!
Al Moore Glace Bay