For the first time in two years, children returning to school next month in Nova Scotia will start the year without COVID-19 protections like mask mandates.
According to a release from the province Wednesday, students “will be able to participate in the full range of learning and well-being activities, including small-group instruction, band, clubs, sports and field trips.”
“Our students are really excited, and we’re really excited to get back into not only the classroom, but also extra-curricular activities like sports and music and field trips,” said Education and Early Child Development Minister Becky Druhan during a press conference.
“As always, we keep safety and the health of our students and staff as our highest priority and will remain in close contact with Public Health.”
While students have spent much of the last two years either learning from home or wearing masks, the province dropped masking rules for students in late May last year.
Wednesday’s release said the province “continues to encourage schools, staff and students to embrace healthy habits” like getting vaccinated, staying home if they’re unwell, sanitizing hands and high-touch surfaces, and creating a supportive environment for those who choose to wear a mask.
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Schools will have hand sanitizer and masks available for those who choose to use them, the release said, adding that high-touch surfaces will also continue to be cleaned regularly.
Outdoor learning will be “promoted” and there will be enhanced online supports for math, reading and writing, it said.
The province also said it is giving each school more than $5,000 via a health living grant, which supports physical and mental health activities or cultural awareness activities.
As well, a new physical activity framework is expected to be rolled out this year “to encourage students and staff to eat healthy and become more active, as well as to continue to maximize learning opportunities in areas like outdoor learning and summer literacy programs.”
Opposition skeptical
The decision comes despite a number of post-secondary schools in Nova Scotia announcing they will require masks for students and staff in the fall. Premier Tim Houston said he cannot speak to how post-secondary institutions came to their decision.
“If the universities and the faculties of universities have some other body that they prefer to take guidance from outside of Nova Scotia Public Health, they’re welcome to do that,” said Houston. “But I don’t do that. I follow Public Health.”
That’s something opposition parties remain skeptical about.
“We’re seeing a major contradiction in what the advice from Public Health is,” said Nova Scotia Liberal Leader Zach Churchill during a press conference. “We have a government that continually says they’re taking advice from Public Health. That’s questionable.”
Nova Scotia NDP Leader Claudia Chender agreed.
“We keep hearing, ‘We listen to Public Health, we listen to Public Health.’ We are not hearing from Public Health,” she said.
Minister Druhan says the plan isn’t set in stone and they’re willing to change it if needed.
“We’ve learned really well throughout the course of the last years how to do that and we’re ready and able to do so,” she said.
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