Inclusion program needs help, Jody Carr says

Education Minister Jody Carr says the province's inclusive education program needs the proper financial resources if it is going to be a success.

Carr said in an interview on Wedneday he understands the points made by Heather Smith, the outgoing president of the New Brunswick Teachers' Association, who said the focus on inclusion in the classroom is preventing the education system from meeting the needs of all students.

Carr said he agreed with virtually all of Smith's concernsabout the lack of resources in the education system neededthat were needed to make inclusion successful.

However, he said he still believes in the program's philosophy.

"We can't just say we have an inclusive school system without putting the resources in place," said Carr.

"That's why the government has responded to teachers' concerns, families' concerns about class composition, about behaviours, the situations listed that have created distractions."

Carr said inclusion is not about "forcing all students in the regular classroom 100 per cent of the time" and admitted problems happen when there is not enough support.

"We have often, in the past, thrown kids together, expected the teacher to make it work inclusion is not a one size fits all," he said.

The Department of Education is working on providing more training to help all students reach their full potentialand iscontinuing towork with the teachers' association to improve the classroom environment, Carr said.

He said government already started on that path, by cutting the number of school districts to seven from 14, and freeing up $5 million in administration costs to be reinvested in schools.

In October, Carr also hired more educational assistants than he hadoriginally budgeted.

"I do believe inclusion is about all students, and we're not picking and choosing,"Carr said.

"What we need to do is provide the capacity and support in our schools for our teachers."

Successive governments supported inclusion

Carr dismissed suggestions that he is too personally invested in the inclusion file, because his wife, Krista Carr, is the executive director of the New Brunswick Association for Community Living.

He said previous governments have also promoted inclusion in the classroom.

"That's our goal to give those skills to our students whether they're gifted, enriched, disabled, first nations, rather than pick and choose and say one group of students is better than another group of students let's make sure all students succeed and that's my goal," he said.

Meanwhile, Smith, who plans to return to her job as a principal when her term ends, is calling on the provincial government to come up with an education plan.

She said to date, it has failed to do.

Smithsaid teachers need to know what the goals are so they can narrow their focus with limited resources.

Carr said his department has involved teachers on a draft educational plan.

"That's been provided to the teachers," he said.

"It's not going to be a glossy 25-page document that's dictated with 200 items.

"This is going to be clear with a focus on achievement for all early childhood development, positive learning environments, and by this September we will have an educational plan."