Nova Scotia’s education minister says no one is barring new school specialists from joining a union.
Recently Nova Scotia Teachers Union Paul Wozney voiced concerns over working conditions and the fact that the new hires will not be a part of NSTU.
Education Minister Zach Churchill says that’s because they are no longer providing teaching certificates to non-teachers.
“The reason we’ve done that is if you give teaching certificates to non-teachers then they have to abide by the teachers professional agreement which doesn’t put them in a position necessarily to work year round.”
Making school psychologists available to kids year round was a recommendation from the Report on Inclusive Education and something Churchill says a lot of parents requested.
It was also one the Association of Psychologists of Nova Scotia was concerned with – they released a statement on the new practice.
Churchill says government will meet with the association soon to discuss the matter.
He added there are other unions that school specialists are able to join and that government is not preventing the new hires from organizing.
Story by Brittany Wentzell
Twitter:@BrittWentzell
