The new learning guide education Opportunities Alternatives and Enhancements for Maritime Communities

Nova Scotia

Central Structure: Department of Education

The Minister and Deputy Minister implement this mandate through the Nova Scotia Department of Education. The Department consists of eight branches, each with an Executive Director responsible for branch- associated tasks.

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  Acadian and French Language Services Branch: provides leadership and direction to school boards in French First Language and French Second Language program development, delivery and evaluation, and administers funds from the Canadian Heritage Agreement.
  
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  Facilities, Planning and Operations Branch: manages school buildings, transportation and services, textbooks and materials and the private-public-partnerships for new school construction.
  

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  Finance Branch: looks after accounting, budgeting and financial management and provides auditing services and special grants to school boards, libraries and universities.
  
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  Human Resources Division: responsible for negotiating collective agreements with the Nova Scotia Teachers Union and the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
  
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  Marketing Educational Industries Branch: develops economic opportunities in Nova Scotia's education sector to stimulate the creation of knowledge-based jobs.
  
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  Policy Branch: composed of six divisions: Testing and Evaluation, Planning and Research, Information Technology, Regional Education Services, Provincial Libraries, and Publishing and Document Management.
  
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  Program Branch: responsible for English language curriculum and professional development, and services to Mi'kmaq and African Nova Scotian communities; it has five divisions: English Program Services, Student Services, African Canadian Services, Mi'kmaq Services, and Learning Resources and Technology.
  
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  Training and Financial Assistance Branch: contains five divisions: Apprenticeship Division, Private Career Colleges, Adult Learning and Innovation, Student Assistance and Community College Liaison.¹
  

Regional Structure: School Boards

Grades Primary-12 public education in Nova Scotia is governed directed and delivered through regional school boards. They receive funding from the Department of Education, together with program direction and provincial regulations and policies. Regional school boards have the responsibility to administer education at all public schools within their region. In Nova Scotia there are seven regional school boards, including the Francophone Board, Conseil Scolaire Acadien Provincial (see chart on previous page). Each school board is governed by elected Board Members and is administered by an appointed Superintendent and Administrative Directors, who are responsible for human resources, student services, finance and operations, development, etc. At the school level, leadership is provided by principals, vice-principals, department heads² and teachers.

Education Act

The Nova Scotia Education Act was proclaimed in January, 1996 and the Regulations under the Act were approved in June 1997. The Education Act describes the laws that govern public education in Nova Scotia. Its purpose is to ensure that students receive educational programs and services that enable them to develop to their potential with the qualities needed to contribute to a healthy society and sustainable economy. The Education Act delineates the framework for the structure of education in Nova Scotia, describing the powers and responsibilities of the Minister, school boards, administrators and staff, students, parents and teachers and provides requirements for home schooling, private schools, and accommodations for Mi'kmaq and African-Canadian Education.³

Collective Agreements

The Human Resources Division of the Department of Education negotiates collective agreements with the two unions representing public education employees.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees is the single bargaining agent for support staff, including secretaries, janitors and bus drivers.

The Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU) is the sole collective bargaining agent for all certified teachers employed by a school board in Nova Scotia. The NSTU also negotiates the collective agreement for the faculty of Nova Scotia Community Colleges. The 10,000 members of the NSTU include all Primary to Grade 12 public school teachers. The agreement defines the employers' responsibilities, the rights and duties of teachers, employment qualifications, benefits, salaries, leave, professional development, grievance procedures, and substitute teachers.⁴

In addition to the provincial collective agreement, regional agreements are negotiated between the NSTU and the school boards and deal with regional issues and policies such as insurance and benefits, remuneration, severance pay, etc.

Learning Requirements and Programs

The Nova Scotia public education system endeavours to provide a learning environment that allows students to gather information, organize it into knowledge in a variety of appropriate ways and to manipulate and evaluate this knowledge through positive methods of expression and reflection.

Learning requirements are defined for three grade levels: Primary to Grade 6, Grades 7-9 and Grades 10-12. Each level has required courses and different goals and objectives.5

Primary to Grade 6 (Elementary School)
In the early elementary years structured or focused play, guided and facilitated by teachers, allows students to develop social skills and to use language meaningfully. In later elementary years the play becomes more sophisticated as students are able to deal with abstract concepts, generalize experiences, learn from texts and work independently. The elementary program should offer all students the following experiences on a daily basis:

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  Explore experiment and make approximations.
  
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  Make choices, and reflect upon the decisions they make.
  
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  Work in a variety of groups.
  
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  Use many different communication modes: e.g. writing, drama, sculpture, drawing, dance, talk and music.
  
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  Learn through play and games.
  
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  Manipulate a wide variety of materials across all subject areas.
  
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  Reflect on and articulate what and how they have learned.
  
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  Describe their efforts and accomplishments.
  

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