Plan to lower criteria for teaching programs has hoops to jump through

There is much work ahead before the Nova Scotia government's plan to lower entry requirements for bachelor of education programs can become reality.

At the Progressive Conservative Party annual general meeting earlier this year, Premier Tim Houston announced that Nova Scotia universities would start considering applicants after just two years of undergraduate study. The current requirement is a complete bachelor's degree.

Houston said the change, paired with more seats in education programs, would help address a shortage of teachers that's being felt at schools across the province.

But it remains unclear when Nova Scotia universities will be able to change their entry criteria for prospective teachers.

Universities are waiting on the province

All five schools that offer teacher training in Nova Scotia told CBC News that while they're aware of the province's intentions, they're waiting on a formal directive.

"As of today, Université Sainte-Anne has not received news from the Department of Education regarding changes to our bachelor of education's admission criteria. It remains status quo," said a spokesperson for the school Tuesday.

Mount Saint Vincent University said its staff have had discussions with the government, but they need the provincial regulator — the Office of Teacher Certification — to approve the change before the university's education department can move forward. The school's internal process includes getting approval by its senate.

Cape Breton University, Acadia University and St. Francis Xavier University all had similar responses: they'll be ready to act once the province sets specific parameters.

Lots of stakeholders involved

Advanced Education Minister Brian Wong said the work to lower criteria for teacher training is complicated, involving his department, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, the universities, the Nova Scotia Teachers Union and the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission.

"This is something that we're committed to, we know that the schools are committed to," he said in a recent interview.

"We're looking to get more teachers in schools faster because we know that we need them now, we're going to need them into the future," he added.

But Wong could not provide a timeline for the work.

A spokesperson for the Education Department said the regulatory change requires agreement from the teachers' union, and there was a meeting about such an agreement last month.

"It is our desire to move forward with changes as soon as possible through this ongoing work," the spokesperson said.

No one from the union was available for an interview, but a spokesperson reiterated that any change would be a collaboration between the NSTU and province.

One certainty in the process is that all universities will have to apply to the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission for approval to change their education programs. The commission provides advice to ministers responsible for post-secondary education in the three Maritime provinces.

Its CEO, Catherine Stewart, said the commission sees this as a "significant modification" that needs to be independently assessed.

She said she's confident the commission will approve the change, but it could take anywhere from two to eight months.

Stewart said the process is meant to ensure all schools in the region meet the same standards.

"And so in order to do that, we have to have a rigorous process to make sure that that is in fact the case. So it's up to the university to provide us with a good program proposal and then up to us to assess that in a timely fashion."

Stewart said it's possible that schools could be approved by 2025, depending on when they start the process, but none of them have done so yet.