A group of parents calling themselves “Parents For Pandemic Education” is calling on the provincial government to hurry up and let families know what the plan is for education this fall.
Spokesperson Caroline Arsenault says they’re concerned by the lack of information coming from the McNeil government.
“We don’t even have a sense of what the options are at the moment,” she explained. “We know that other provinces in the Atlantic have at least put forward a few options, we’re totally in the dark. We’re being told that we’ll get information in late July, which leaves us a month to prepare.”
Arsenault says their preferred option would be for children to return to the classroom, rather than continuing with remote schooling or even a mixture of the two.
“Following the lead of other places and the advice of leading experts in child health and well-being, we believe that it can be a really safe place for kids to be in school,” she explained. “We know that for their full development – their social development, their physical development, their emotional well-being – they really need to be in school.”
She says all decisions about re-opening should be region-specific and that School Advisory Councils should be consulted.
