The Nova Scotia Government has announced they will reduce the requirements to become a teacher in the province.
Prospective teachers will now be allowed to apply after only two years of undergraduate work.
Premier Tim Houston claims this will help streamline the profession, but many are worried that this will create less educated teachers and lower the standard of education in our province. It puts the quantity of teachers in front of the quality of our teachers.
Currently, future teachers are required to complete an undergraduate degree before pursuing a Bachelor of Education, which is a two year professional degree including work terms.
The Premier hopes this change will be ready in time for fall enrolment at universities. He has said the policy is “Just Like Old Times.”
This is extremely worrying considering the steep decline in Nova Scotia education quality over the past 40 years. The Whole Language Program started in the early 1980’s infamously threw out phonics based education in favor of Whole Language Theory which had students memorize words instead of learning the structure of languages. This was a tremendous failure and has resulted in a drastic drop in literacy among young people.
This culture of educational mediocrity will get worse if teachers no longer have to complete a full undergraduate degree.
There is a shortage of teachers in the province, however, the solution is to provide higher incentives for working as a teacher in Nova Scotia, not lowering the requirements. This will undoubtedly result in poorer quality teachers.
Along with the recent announcement of a fast-track program at CBU, the Premier continues to make questionable decisions concerning education.
Via X NSTU President Ryan Lutes spoke about the proposed changes. “The NS Teachers Union has not had meaningful consultation on these potential changes.” He added that the NSTU has advocated for a robust teacher recruitment program which will prioritize improving working and learning conditions in our schools.
Only time will tell if Premier Tim Houston will consider the concern coming from teachers and parents alike.
