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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2010
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◗ HIGH SCHOOL
◗ ENVIRONMENT
Grad grateful for her teachers
Tree bylaw sought
Resident calls for moratorium on tree cutting in city
Her master’s degree from India was just ‘a piece of paper’
BY THERESA MCMANUS REPORTER
BY NIKI HOPE REPORTER
tmcmanus@royalcityrecord.com
nhope@royalcityrecord.com
She has a master’s degree in political science, but Kamaljeet Munday just graduated from high school. Munday’s degree – from a university in India – isn’t valid in Canada, so when the 30-year-old stepped off the plane five years ago, unable to speak English, she was, quite literally, starting from scratch. “My degree is a piece of paper here,” says Munday. She came to Canada in 2005, to be with her husband. When the initial culture shock began to subside, she started looking for ways to learn the language. The search took her to the Burnaby Public Library, where she attended English classes. Through that, she discovered New Westminster’s Pearson Adult Learning Centre. “I don’t want to just improve my English, I want to get an education,” says Munday. “In the beginning, when I took an English test, the teacher told me (I was at) a Grade 7 level. I was shocked because I had a master’s degree.” But Munday stayed on and improved, and on Thursday she, along with 32 students in the program, received her Dogwood – the name of British Columbia’s graduation diploma – certificate. Munday says it’s the teachers ◗Grad Page 10
Larry Wright/THE RECORD
Success story: Kamaljeet Munday is graduating from the Pearson Adult Learning Centre in New Westminster. She went back to get her high school diploma after arriving in Canada in 2005 with a master’s degree from a university in India that was just ‘a piece of paper’ here.
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A local social activist is calling on city hall to implement a tree bylaw and to uphold legislation that protects wildlife habitat. Roslyn Cassells is concerned that shrubs recently removed from a downtown site were home to nesting songbirds. The school district had the shrubs removed from the former Saint Mary’s Hospital site so it was able to comply with the city’s unsightly premises and street traffic bylaws and to respond to complaints about rats at the site. In response to Cassells’ complaints, maintenance work on the future school site ceased. A school district representative apologized to her on several occasions. “It’s not me that got hurt. It’s the animals that suffer. I can’t accept an apology on their behalf,” said Cassells, who believes justice is the best apology. “They can stop killing them, leave their habitat alone. After all the destruction they should provide a nature-positive place. I am hoping to work with them on that.” Cassells also raised concerns about a downtown ◗Habitat Page 10 est. 1946
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