Back to school: Modular classrooms are here to stay, says HRCE
Schools in the Halifax region are facing increasing student enrolment numbers as the beginning of the academic year looms.
To help accommodate the growing student population, Halifax Regional Centre for Education schools have made use of modular units, temporary classrooms that help divide students into smaller class sizes.
While the modular classrooms help accommodate students, they pose other problems, according to Ryan Lutes, the President of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union.
“If you add another 200 students to a (modular) building, there’s no extra gym space for them,” Lutes said.
“There’s no extra offices for guidance counsellors or resource teachers. I’ve seen resource teachers having to work in the hallway with a small group of students because there’s no additional space. . . . Our schools, even with these modular units, are absolutely still feeling the physical pressures.”
This year, almost 58,000 students are enrolled in HRCE schools, according to communications officer Lindsey Bunin. That’s roughly 2,000 more students than last year. Over the last five years, student enrolment has increased by 16 per cent.
The use of modular and portable units to accommodate the high volume of students has become increasingly frequent since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Portable classrooms, placed outside the main school building, take the shape of single-floor modular homes and accommodate one class at a time.
More popular recently is the use of modular units that contain multiple classrooms. There are currently 141 modular classrooms and 58 portable classrooms in place at 137 HRCE schools. These extensions can hold 12 classes on average, with hallways connecting classes and bathrooms.
Additional classes and groups mean more teaching staff is required. According to Lutes, if a teacher is sick, there is rarely a full-time teacher who can step up to fill their position, as many teachers are occupied with their own students and cannot substitute. This means that schools are drawing from among resource and guidance teachers to teach entire classes, leaving special needs students without support on some days.
The provincial government announced funding totalling $948 million to build new schools and renovate existing schools in June. Lutes said that while he is thankful for the support of the provincial government, the modular units and new schools being built throughout the province, he insists that a shortage of staff and human resources is a greater threat to the education system.
“The government really needs to turn their mind to addressing the staffing issues in our schools,” he said.
“Parents send their kids to school every day and they come home, and they had a great day. . . . Because our schools are staying open, the public doesn’t always realize the kind of staffing crunch that we’re in.”
While the plans for new schools show construction continuing up to 2029, there is no projected end date for the use of the modular or portable classrooms, according to HRCE.
“The needs are assessed, and these resources move throughout HRCE every year,” said Bunin in an email.
“In addition to building new schools, adding and moving modular and portable classrooms allows HRCE to adapt to the needs of our growing student population.”
