Inclusion program not funded properly: teachers

Newfoundland and Labrador has a plan to bring all students together at school, but not nearly enough resources to make it work, the teachers' union says.

The new "inclusion" program aims to have all students, including those with learning disabilities and immigrants learning English, into mainstream classrooms.

But Lily Cole, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association, said the provincial budget that was tabled last week does not include money to make the program work.

"Excellent philosophy. We are wholeheartedly in support of it," Cole told CBC Radio's St. John's Morning Show.

"But if we don't have the human resources, and the professional development and the time, then it's really causing a strain in our system … Teachers will tell you that an excellent philosophy can be impossible to implement within the reality of most of our schools today."

Cole said students with special needs often require supports, including dedicated instructional resource teachers.

"The regular classroom teacher does not have the necessary professional development," she said Tuesday. "We're finding that the philosophy is fabulous, and there's not a teacher in the province who's against the inclusive philosophy, but … we are finding, and teachers are very stressed, that we have more students in our classes with various needs."

Cole said the NLTA welcomes the budget's increased spending on infrastructure, and she said three newly completed schools are excellent facilities.

However, she said the budget does not include enough funds to deal with other issues, such as paying for substitutes to cover teachers on professional development days.