Every day when I see my son after school I ask him the same question, “What did you learn in school today?” I suspect that many other parents ask the same question of their own children. What I don’t ask my son is, “How much did the government spend in school on you today?”
That in itself shows the difference between the focus that parents have when it comes to education and the focus that the NDP government has when it comes to education. Most Manitoba parents are concerned with what their children are learning in school and how it is preparing them for the future. The NDP government is seemingly only concerned about how much money is spent in our schools and not what our kids are learning.
Take for example the most recent international report on student performance released on Tuesday. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) testing showed that Manitoba students test scores for math were in 8th place among Canadian provinces. The scores for reading put us in 9th place and the science scores had us in 9th place as well. Each of these represented a decline in results since the last round of testing.
In fact, Manitoba student test scores have been dropping virtually every assessment since the NDP came to government. That means that our students are less prepared for college, university or work life as compared to their counterparts across the country.
Faced with these new dismal statistics, the NDP offered up two lines of defense. The first was that they are continuing to put more taxdollars into education. That might be an acceptable response if there was any evidence that student outcomes were actually improving as a result. But the opposite seems to be the case. The more that the NDP spend, the worse the results are.
The second line of defense was that they have new ideas and initiatives to improve student test scores. This is what the Premier said on Tuesday. Unfortunately, he said almost the exact same thing three years ago when the last round of student assessments were released. And there is little indication that the promise this time will mean any more than the promise last time.
What the NDP needs to do is take a look at those areas, both in Canada and in other countries, which are performing well and see what we can learn from them. Examine their curriculum and see what can be applied in Manitoba to improve our results.
The news isn’t all bad. The good news is that we have many dedicated and skilled teachers who are there to deliver quality education. What they need is to be equipped with a program that meets the needs of our students.
The NDP seem content to continue spending more and getting less in education. That way of thinking deserves a failing grade. But our students deserve much better.
