Rick Cuming is the president of the New Brunswick Teachers' Association. (Photo submitted by NBTA)
There is a new president at the helm of the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association for the next two years.
Rick Cuming says one of the main things the association would like to have is the funding and human resources for the most ambitious inclusion policy in the country.
Cuming says the government is well aware of all the issues involved with this.
“We have identified 50 schools that are most vulnerable in the province for a disproportionate amount of needs and providing them with additional supports, having one resource teacher for every 120 students. There are recommendations there and the government has to find the right balance of supports to make it happen,” stated Cuming.
The association has been waiting for the provincial government to act on numerous reports it has been given over the years.
“Government has received the McKay Report in 2006, which outlined a serious crisis that needed to be addressed. The government paid a lot of money for the Porter-Aucoin Report, which made a lot of recommendations, that was in 2012,” Cuming said.
Cuming said the association is all for inclusion but the government needs to change some of the policies surrounding the issue.
“Teachers support the inclusion and inclusive education but these changes we are looking for is an ability to easily adapt that. [Policy 322] does allow for variations in the learning environment but there is a pretty onerous checklist,” stated Cuming.
