Residents of southeastern Manitoba know a thing or two about huts attached to schools. Many of our schools are overcrowded and in need of portable classrooms. In fact, last fall the count in the Hanover School Division of school huts was 52, the third most of any division in the province.
Turns out, it’s a pretty common thing right across Manitoba. Recent freedom of information releases show that there are 525 temporary classrooms attached to schools in the province. That amounts to some 13,000 kids being taught in portable classrooms every day. The reason for that is the NDP government has not done a good job of allocating capital resources for schools. Even in school divisions which have recently opened new schools, huts are not coming down because it has taken so long to have the schools approved that there is still overcrowding.
The information comes during the same week that the NDP government is trumpeting new funding for more teachers in an effort to reduce the number of kids in classrooms. That’s all fine and good but there is an important factor missing from that announcement. Where are these new teachers going to teach? Where are these kids going to find a classroom? The answer is obvious from the fact that there are already over 500 huts attached to our schools. More huts are coming.
The NDP need to ensure that kids are being taught in a safe and appropriate environment. The number of temporary classrooms in the province has to be reduced not increased. We need to give our teachers and students real classrooms
