Education minister has 'a lot of hope' as teacher contract talks resume next week
Negotiators set aside three days to try and make a deal between government and teachers
Talks between the Nova Scotia government and the union that represents more than 9,000 teachers in the province resume next week.
The two sides plan to meet for three days starting Tuesday. Education Minister Karen Casey called it "good news for teachers, students and parents."
A conciliator had been working with the two parties before the Christmas holidays and that will continue into this new round of negotiations. Casey told reporters Thursday she is optimistic a deal can be reached.
"I would like to say that I have a lot of hope," she said. "This will be the fifth time that we have been together but we continue to hear from teachers that working conditions are their concern. That's what we're prepared to talk about."
Teachers began work-to-rule job action Dec. 5 and will only perform tasks required under the current contract, which expired in July 2015. It means, for instance, teachers arrive 20 minutes before the first class, and leave 20 minutes after the final bell.
Reference letters
While Casey said she is hopeful negotiations for a new contract will be fruitful, the minister expressed disappointment that as part of work-to-rule some teachers were refusing to write letters of reference for students graduating this spring.
Students need the letters as part of the application process to get into certain university or college programs, or for scholarship applications.
"This is something that teachers have done forever," said the minister. "They do it because they want their students to be successful and I'm disappointed to think that they're not doing it."
She also said some teachers were violating the Education Act during work-to-rule. She didn't say how, and couldn't say what she planned to do about it when pressed by reporters.
"Because I don't have an answer for that. And I don't know what the government is going to do."