Teachers, parents and students are slowly getting a picture of what the next month of learning will look like, even as public schools across Nova Scotia remain closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A day after Premier Stephen McNeil said schools and regulated daycares will stay closed until at least May 1 as the province attempts to limit the spread of COVID-19, the government released its comprehensive learning plan to teachers and administrators.
The document outlines a plan for the next month, as well as workload and grading expectations for students, all while leaving room for adjustments along the way in what education officials have acknowledged is an unprecedented situation.
“As we introduce these new guidelines for teaching and learning, we are aware that we will have to be nimble and ready to adjust our course as public health information informs our actions,” the document says.
“Our current situation is challenging for everyone, but in Nova Scotia we know that we are fortunate to have skilled and dedicated educators whose professionalism often exceeds expectations.”
Plans and workload vary by grade
Teachers have started contacting students to determine who has access to computers and high-speed internet. They’ll also spend the next few days reviewing what outcomes have been completed so far and what is still required to help students complete their year.
From there, they’ll format plans in two-week blocks. According to the document, work should begin to be issued next week.
The plan breaks down expectations and planning in broad strokes for groups of grades:
Students expected to graduate this year, for example, can expect three hours of work per course per week. A similar workload can be expected for students in grades 10 and 11.
For grades 7 to 9, learning will centre on provincial curriculum outcomes for mathematics, language/literacy, science and social studies, with possible room for other courses. Students can expect a total average of 10 hours of work per week.
For grades 4 to 6, work will focus on language/literacy and mathematics/numeracy outcomes of the provincial curriculum. Teachers are encouraged to incorporate science and social studies outcomes through cross-curricular learning, and other subjects when it’s possible. Students can expect an average of five hours of work per week.
The focus for grades Primary to 3 will be on language/literacy and mathematics/numeracy outcomes of the provincial curriculum. Teachers will assign an average of five hours of work per week per student.
Education Minister Zach Churchill said he expects there will be bumps in the road along the way, but he also said everyone working in the system is committed to finding ways to make things work for students, regardless of their needs. That includes using the SaltWire Network’s flyer delivery service to get work packages to students without access to high-speed internet every two weeks, something he expects will apply to about 30 per cent of students.
Churchill said his department is also working with the Health Department to determine if educational assistants can provide respite for parents who need it. The minister said officials want to hear from parents, students and teachers as the plan progresses.
Zach Churchill is Nova Scotia’s minister of education. (CBC)
“These are uncharted waters for us and for people in my position across the country and we want to make sure that we’re responding to the needs of our kids,” he said in an interview with CBC’s Information Morning Cape Breton.
“We’re going to have to roll with the punches and improve as we go.”
According to the learning plan, elementary report cards and individualized program plan (IPP) reports for March/April currently underway will go to all students, however, mid-semester high school report cards won’t happen. All students will get an end-of-year report card.
Students in grades Primary through 9 who are on track to pass to the next grade will “continue on that track,” with teachers providing feedback on their work. All provincial assessments are cancelled for this school year.
Teachers will assess the progress of students in grades 10 to 12 and assign final grades based on work done up to March Break and whatever can be accomplished between now and June, according to the plan.
“High school students are expected to complete their modified and reduced course work to the best of their ability,” said the document.
There will be no final exams in any course. The plan says the Labour and Advanced Education Department continues to talk with university and Nova Scotia Community College officials to “ensure that students’ future options are not negatively impacted.”
Paul Wozney is president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union. (CBC)
Nova Scotia Teachers Union president Paul Wozney said that although there are huge challenges for everyone involved, teachers are accustomed to adapting on the fly and will find ways to help their students succeed.
“It’s just kind of what we do,” he said.
“To the degree that it’s possible to support students’ learning from home,” Wozney said he expects to see the resourcefulness and creativity of teachers and students shine. He’s asking people to be patient and kind as the new system is set up and he realizes answers might not always be immediately available.
“We know why people have a sense of urgency about these questions, but we’re going to get down to business and get down to the work of supporting students and working with parents,” he said.
According to the plan, teachers will have office hours and communicate to students how and when they can make contact. Churchill said inclusive education supports would remain in place, as would mental-health supports, which can be accessed by contacting teachers or principals.
A need to be nimble
Tim Simony, board chair of the Public School Administrators Association of Nova Scotia, said principals and other administrators are focused on trying to help people cope with the uncertainty and unknown of the situation.
“People need a lot of reassurance right now because, you know, there’s a public health concern that is very scary and very high profile in the media and high profile in people’s minds,” he said. “And being able to reorient themselves around what this new perspective for education looks like is the challenge.”
Being adaptable and nimble will be key to making the system work, said Simony.
“There’s going to be lots of differences that there needs to be allowances for to make this work, because there is no pattern and there is no template to just hand to anybody, whether that’s a family, a student or a teacher, to say, ‘This is what you need to do.'”
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
