A report which makes dozens of recommendations on how to improve our K-12 school system will not sit on the shelf, promises the minister of education.
“Learning in a Time of Change” has made 90 recommendations in five areas including teacher allocations that take both class composition and size into account.
The report calls for a new hiring process for teachers based on merit rather than seniority, that student assistants be used in small schools to help with secretarial chores, that government to do a study on school closures and to develop a new process on the same. It also makes recommendations on the ratios of guidance counsellors and teachers, and building on efforts instituted during the pandemic to employ teacher candidates as substitutes.
The report also calls for a review of why the available computer support for schools is not having its intended effect, and to take the necessary steps to remediate the lack of computer support schools currently receive.
Maximum class size should be reduced, particularly in the younger grades, and that the department develop a new service delivery model for students with exceptional needs over the next couple of years.
Minister John Haggie says some recommendations can be implemented rather quickly while others will take years to put in place.
NLTA Hopeful for Action Out of Report
The NLTA, which has been waiting on a review of Teacher Allocations for more than a decade is hoping for action.
“There are so many operational issues in the system,” says President Trent Langdon, that “need to be addressed,” and one way is to increase human resources in schools.
Langdon says it will take time to go through all the recommendations and while some are welcomed there are areas of concern, particularly as they relate to the collective bargaining process.