(Photo: submitted)
The pandemic has created a lot of challenges throughout the 2021 school year for educators and students.
But the president of the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association says there were a few bright spots as well.
Connie Keating says COVID-19 forced technology to the forefront, “Prior to that, there were many roadblocks integrating technology into our schools and into our classrooms. We saw that being cleared very quickly. There still remains challenges, but it means that education in the future can look very different.”
Keating says another positive was the government’s recognition in the need for investments to support teachers’ mental health, which was encouraging, “Having the government recognize that has made a significant difference to our teachers.”
Later in 2021, student behaviour mentors were added to the schools, “Certainly not the numbers we needed, but just the fact they were added, helps lighten the load where students behaviour was. We didn’t get all of those positions back in the school year, but again having the government recognize that there was a need, was a positive.”
Students were expected to return from winter break on January 10th, but Education Minister Dominic Cardy announced at a news conference on Friday, that with the rise in COVID-19 cases, they would move to at-home learning instead.
It will be in effect until at least January 21st, with the government re-evaluating the week of January 17th.
