STATEMENT FROM THE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA CHIEFS ON WORLD TEACHERS’ DAY
October 5, 2020
Treaty One Territory, Manitoba
alexpapineau
“On World Teachers’ Day, 2020, I take the opportunity on behalf of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC), to thank all teachers in the province and across the country for the incredible work you are doing under extremely difficult circumstances.
Your work is critical to the development and to the safety of our children and to the day-to-day functioning of our communities and First Nations. I am grateful for the sense of security you provide to our children and youth during these uncertain times. They are our future and I am grateful to know that you teach and lead them every day.
I especially acknowledge and honour our teachers on the frontlines in our First Nations schools, who face even more challenging circumstances due to remoteness and a lack of technology and broadband internet. As your classrooms have been closed or limited, and as your schools implement distance learning, you are providing homework packages, making home visits as appropriate and being available to the students in best way you can. I acknowledge this and will continue to advocate on behalf of each and every one of you in every way that I can.
I also take this occasion on World Teachers’ Day to call on all levels of government to immediately expedite needed COVID-19 safety measures and resources to our First Nations schools. I urge our national and regional education partners to work with the First Nations leadership and with our Education experts to ensure that the lessons learned from COVID-19 are implemented for the benefit of all our learners; and that the needed programming, infrastructure, and funding gaps identified and highlighted during the global pandemic are addressed as we recover from COVID-19.” – AMC Grand Chief Arlen Dumas