New Brunswick’s education minister says a series of consultation sessions around the province have been going well.
Dominic Cardy says the sessions give students, teachers, parents and the public a chance to provide feedback on the province’s green paper, which aims to improve and transform the education system.
“So far the feedback has been enthusiastic, a lot of people saying they just really appreciate the chance to have their voice heard,” he said in an interview.
“It’s exactly what I was hoping to get out of these sessions, is getting more folks engaged in discussions around education.”
Cardy says he’s been hearing a lot of the same feedback across the region, especially from high school students wanting to pursue their passions, but being restricted by graduation requirements.
“We tell kids that we want them to pursue their passions and their interests, but then we tell them that they might get one optional class where they can actually do something they’re interested in,” he said.
“That’s just been the way we run the school system in New Brunswick, but there’s no reason for it. You get lots of places where by the time you get to the last couple of years of school, every single subject that the students take is something that they’re interested in pursuing.”
Another issue that’s been consistently raised at the meetings is a concern around mental health in schools, says Cardy.
“Everyone from youngest kids down in kindergarten, grade one, where there’s an awareness of anxiety and you can see the problems starting to surface there, and especially up into the high school age where you get issues with mental health becoming a lot more serious,” he said.
Cardy says the similar responses show that the different regions of the province have more in common than they think.
“I think that speaks to the fact that we’ve got a lot more that unites us than divides us and we need to build on that,”
Cardy notes the meetings aren’t just for people connected to the education system.
“This is something that is really critical for every single New Brunswicker, what happens with our education system. Don’t worry if you don’t have expertise in the field, if you’re a New Brunswicker, you’ve got something to contribute to this conversation, and I hope as many people as possible turn out to make their voice heard,” he said.
Cardy says there will be separate meetings held for students and teachers during the day and another meeting open to the public in the evenings.
He urges everyone and anyone to attend a meeting if they can.
The consultation tour has already made stops in Sackville, Edmunston and Saint John. Cardy says the meetings have drawn hundreds of people.
He also plans on adding more meetings to the tour as required and hopes to get them all wrapped up by March break.
“We’re going to be having some meetings with First Nations communities, with new arrival students, as many different groups as possible,” he said.
Cardy and his team will visit Moncton and Riverview next. More details can be found online.
He says the next steps will be to collect and compile the feedback and recommendations and to start looking at budgets, priorities, and timelines for implementation.
