View From the Legislature

Late last year the Manitoba government announced a commission that would undertake a detailed review of the Kindergarten to Grade 12 education system in our province. As part of that announcement, there was a commitment to ensure significant public consultations happened as part of the review. Ultimately, the education system of our province matters to all Manitobans and every resident of our province should have an opportunity to share their opinion and ideas.

Earlier this month, the independent K-12 Commission announced its consultation framework. The first part of this was to release discussion papers on the education system in a number of areas. These include achieving excellence in student outcomes and ensuring teachers and school leaders have the tools they need to be successful. It also includes ensuring that the education system is financially sustainable.

These discussion papers will help to frame the consultations that will happen with the public at a series of meetings that will begin next week and carry on into May. A meeting will be held in Steinbach on May 14th from 6:00pm to 8:30pm at the Pat Porter Active Living Centre. Members of the K-12 Commission will attend the meetings to be able to hear from the public and education stakeholders.

The Commission will also be holding a special meeting with students from across the province to hear directly from young people about their experience with and expectation of the education system.

If you are unable to attend the public hearings that are being held by the Commission, there is an opportunity for the public and educators to share their views online though an online survey. The online surveys as well as the listing of all the locations for public hearings and the discussion papers can be found on the Commission website.

Over the last decade Manitoba students have been falling behind when it comes to scoring on national and international testing on Science, Math and Literacy. We have talented students and professional teachers and there is no reason that we should be seeing these results worsen as compared to other provinces in Canada. The K-12 review is an opportunity to hear from Manitobans on how we can ensure our system is the most improved in Canada and to help ensure that our students have every advantage they can as they graduate the K-12 education system.

The strength of the Commission and its recommendations however is directly related to the public engagement that it receives. It needs to hear from a wide range of experiences with the education system to be able to form the kind of recommendations that will improve the education system for students and those who are working within in. Please take the time to participate.