New education program to boost number of Black teachers in Nova Scotia

A new education program set to start Acadia University this fall willcreate more opportunities toincrease the number of African Nova Scotian teachers in schools.

The Wolfville, N.S., university has partnered with the Delmore "Buddy" Daye Learning Institute to introduce the Africentricbachelor of education program.

It will be targeted to African Nova Scotian student-support workers who already work in Nova Scotia schools and want to upgrade their skills to teach.

Ksa Munroe-Anderson, an associate professor in the education department at Acadia, said the new program will help address systemic barriers.

She said it will also address gaps in representation and access within the education sector "that have historically faced African Nova Scotia learners in this province."

"It is a social justice approach that will allow for us to unapologetically centre the knowledge, the perspectives of cultures, the histories, lived experiences [and] world views of people of African descent through this program," Munroe-Anderson told CBC Radio's Information Morning Halifax on Friday.

The first 25 students will start this September. There will be funding support from the provincial government.

Sylvia Parris-Drummond, the CEO of the Dayeinstitute, said there has already been interest in the program.

She said the institute has been working to increase representation in Nova Scotia schools through its Africentricmaster of education in counselling cohort at Acadia, but more needs to be done to speed up the process.

"We know that we need more teachers in the system broadly and we know that we need teachers who identify as Black, African Nova Scotian, African descent," Parris-Drummond told Information Morning.

Information Morning - NS9:15New Africentric Education program coming to Acadia University

This fall, Acadia University will welcome 25 students to a new Africentric bachelor of education program. It's for African Nova Scotian support workers who want to upgrade to become teachers. It's a new path to increasing the number of Black teachers in the province's schools. Sylvia Parris-Drummond of the Delmore "Buddy" Daye Learning Institute and Acadia Prof. Ksa Munroe-Anderson bring us the details. 

She said as a non-profit organization, the institute will offer support for tuition and books. It will also co-ordinategatherings for meals and sharing circles, and provide support to those who need help navigating the program.

Munroe-Anderson said the new program will have the same entry qualifications as the school's bachelor of education program, but it will only be open to African Nova Scotian support workers.

"We are interested in the knowledge and the experience that these folks have already demonstrated in their work day-to-day in the school system in Nova Scotia as it relates to African Nova Scotian learners, African Nova Scotian communities," she said.

Munroe-Anderson said the program will workwith the regional centres for education to ensure there are spots available for graduates of the program.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check outBeing Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of.You can read more stories here.