Nova Scotia teachers prepare for return to in-class learning, hope province changes course

A Halifax teacher says cohorts and consistent masking aren't a reality in many schools.

Nova Scotia is the only Atlantic Canada province still planning to start 2022 with in-class learning and one Halifax teacher doesn’t understand why.

“What is different here? It’s the same virus, it’s the same transmissibility, and yet, most other jurisdictions are moving to online. Again, hopefully for a short period of time but they’re seeing that need. So, that weighs heavily on me as a teacher,” Ryan Lutes said, a high school teacher in Halifax.

As of Monday, Nova Scotia’s top doctor says there are no plans to move to virtual learning and that while he empathizes with concerns, sufficient protections are in place.

“Keeping kids in classroom cohorts, minimizing movements around the school, limiting external visitors,” Dr. Robert Strang said.

Lutes says those comments don’t align with what’s being experienced on the ground.

“At high school levels, cohorting doesn’t happen. You’re in different classes all the time, kids are in the hallways together, at lunchtime there’s 1,500 kids that are supposed to be cohorted but they’re not, really — and masking is inconsistent at best,” he said.

Strang has said although schools have been heavily impacted by the latest COVID-19 wave, including pressures caused by staff shortages due to teachers having to isolate, the benefits of students being in classrooms are driving the decision to hold off on virtual learning.

“There’s a significant risk for kids not being in school and if we look at the overall well-being of children, the best place for them to be is in-person learning,” Strang said.