Education reform: province announces student advisory council

These are Grades 9 to 12 students and this year’s graduates from private and public schools, according to the list of names provided by the province.

These students represent a diversity of interests, identities, backgrounds and perspectives from across the province, Cliff Cullen said at a press conference.

This includes students Indigenous, French-speaking, visible minorities, and students with disabilities, he specifies.

A student from the Franco-Manitoban School Division will sit on the advisory board, according to the province, but his name has not yet been released.

Members of the advisory board were selected from around 200 applicants. The minister says he wants engage students critically so that we can fully understand what they need to improve their academic success.

Council members raised four main issues that will be discussed, according to Minister Cullen: challenges related to mental health, diversity and inclusion, reconciliation and regional equality in education.

These issues could very well be on the agenda at the board’s first meeting in August, says Cliff Cullen. The province expects the committee to meet four times a year. The mandate of the pupils lasts 12 months.

The minister indicates that he also wishes to present his government’s ideas to the advisory council, in order to know the reaction of the pupils.

The province is undertaking a major reform of education governance. Bill 64 on the modernization of education plans to unify 37 school divisions into a single entity called the Provincial Education Authority, while maintaining the Franco-Manitoban School Division (DSFM).

The overhaul of education does not stop there, recalls the minister. The province is currently holding a series of consultations to create a roadmap for the transformation of education, an initiative which should take around 5 years.

In response to a reporter’s question about government priorities, Cliff Cullen says he wants to tackle the finalization of the Manitoba Curriculum Review Team and a review of the formula first. funding for education in the province.

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