Ontario will release the names of educators who have been accused of sexual misconduct

Key takeaways:

• According to the provincial government, parents and guardians in Ontario will now be able to find out if their child’s teacher is under investigation for sexual abuse.
• The OCT and the CECE must fund therapy and counselling for sexually abused students and children.

The provincial government announced on Tuesday that parents and guardians in Ontario will now locate if their child’s teacher is the subject of a sexual abuse investigation.

At a press conference in Maple, Education Minister Stephen Lecce stated, “These changes are among the ways we’re making as well as taking action to make the education profession more accountable to families.”

According to Lecce, Ontario is the 1st Canadian province to implement the measure.

Also read: The number of people in Ontario who require mental health services is on the rise

The Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) and the College of Early Childhood Educators (CECE) will be able to discharge data to the public about criminal proceedings involving their members beginning today.

“We think parents have a right to know if their child’s teacher has been charged or convicted of a serious crime because we have zero tolerance for it,” Lecce said.

The move builds on the provincial govt’s previous commitments to safeguarding kids in the classroom, including a mandatory sexual abuse prevention program that went into effect on January 1 and that all Ontario teachers must complete.

Any Ontario educator convicted of having physical, sexual relations with a student or being involved in any way with kid pornography faces a lifetime ban from the profession. Teachers and early childhood educators for whom the memberships were reinstated or not revoked in the first place are also covered by this measure.

The OCT and the CECE are required to fund therapy and counseling for students and children who have been sexually abused. Both groups must also publicize any disciplinary measures taken against an educator by the colleges’ discipline committees in connection with an incident.

Source: CP24 News

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