WINNIPEG – Manitoba government plans to reform the province’s education system will likely be welcomed by parents and teachers, the president of the Manitoba Women’s Institute said.
Audrey Grier said her organization has not had time to fully review the document recently released by education minister Clayton Manness, but its “back to basics” tone is long overdue.
“There has to be something done in the schools to bring some discipline back into it,” said Grier, a former schoolteacher.
The government’s blueprint for renewing the system calls for more parental and teacher control over what happens in the classroom, as well as a return to standardized testing for students in grade 3, 6, 9, and 12.
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“Ensuring that all students can read, write, think and compute at a high level is the goal of the education renewal process,” Manness said in releasing the document.
“To make this happen, we will promote greater and more effective decision making at the grassroots of education – the schools and their communities,” he said.
Needed skills
The blueprint identifies literacy and communication, problem solving, human relations, and technology as “foundation skills” that will be applied to every subject in every grade.
- Requiring schools to establish advisory councils for school leadership consisting of parents and community members.
- Giving parents the choice, within limits, when selecting the public school best suited to their child’s learning requirements.
- Reviewing and reforming teacher education and certification system.
- Giving teachers more control over discipline within the classroom, including the right to suspend unruly students.
- Establishing a provincial advisory council on distance education and technology.
