Editor:
Last year all of the counsellors at CNC were laid off, including me. I worked at the Lakes District Campus from 2011 to 2016. I wish to address several issues that Mr. Notay brought up in the March 29 article ‘CNC explains enrolment decline.’
The reason that student numbers are down at our local campus is that CNC in Prince George has cut the educational programming and staff to our rural community campus, not because of normal “rural enrolment decline”
I want to be clear, CNC senior administration in Prince George, no matter what they say, have dismantled this campus and this will continue. The digital delivery initiative (DDI) Mr. Notay refers to in the article is a replacement for local, face-to-face teachers. There will be a screen students will sit in front of and the teachers will be in Prince George. This should be a concern to community members. A majority of students want face-to-face instruction and are leaving our community to access education elsewhere or not accessing education at all.
A partnership with NVIT offers our community an opportunity to have a increased access at the local campus. They have said they do not want to be involved in dividing the community – this is an admirable sentiment, but it appears to me, there are only a few people in the community instigating this opposition to a partnership with NVIT. They have been active at the Village council table, using their positions to keep NVIT at bay. So far, they have been successful in stalling a once supportive council. Isn’t village council supposed to be representing the good of the community, not the personal interests of a few?
The past CNC Lakes Campus had a large staff that brought local and non-local students into our area. NVIT would assist our rural community’s economic growth by bringing in students, not only from our community but from other communities in the north. This is a win-win situation for all community members, including the current CNC Lakes staff.
CNC did not lay off any staff this year because they are wanting to make sure that the divisiveness in our community continues until NVIT goes away. Then a rationale for laying off the few remaining staff members will be given – they will have the DDI system to offer classes from Prince George, so local instructors and staff are not needed. There goes more jobs and quality education out of our community.
For the last couple of years, it has been clear that there is a wish to dismantle the CNC Lakes campus. There are claims that the opposite is true. We seem to be living in the age of Trumpism, where lies are presented as the truth and the truth gets muddied and sullied by other people’s personal interests.
Sincerely,
Bernadette Ridley
