Education
( 4 Articles )
Aggelonitis McMeekin Education Advisory Group
Meeting Notes
November 16, 2009
Ted introduced Minister Wynne and welcomed her to our region and Ancaster High School
Min. Wynne outlined the Parents in Partnership (draft document) which would be the focus of discussion for the Forum following this meeting
Wynne also updated the plan for Early Learning ($1.5B over 5 years), with goal to ready our youngsters. The ministry of education is working with the ministry of children and youth services and is looking at various options, including existing childcare providers and their facilities.
Financial literacy is an up and coming focus (on the advice of the Curriculum Council). This will be led by Parliamentary Assistant MPP Leanna Pendergast.
Bill 177 (and Public Interest Legislation) includes School Board Governance i.e. roles of those involved in our Boards of Ed. Its about supporting school boards, and giving the Ministry the opportunity to support Boards when they need help (under present Legislation the Ministry’s hands are tied under some circumstances)
Q/As
What is the breadth of the Ministers responsibility?
The Min of Ed oversees $20Billion budget and 5000 schools in Ontario’s publicly funded system. There is ongoing and daily attention to broad policies and a range of educational issues
HWDSB Chair Brennan affirmed all initiatives the Ministry is presently undertaking
Early years….update on 4-5 year olds
Trying to open in 600-900 schools Fall 2010 for 4 and 5 year olds, working with Minister of Child and Youth Services for children 4 and 5 years old in JK and SK. This will be interministerial work
Students and mental health
There is presently an Interministerial Group lead by the Ministry of Health which is forging a strategy. Although no new investment is yet committed, there will likely be when the report is completed
Graduation success rate from high schools
There are student success teachers in each school. The percentage of graduates have increased yearly. Additionally there are alternative learning opportunities eg on-line, co-ops, dual credits and e-learning
Re-introduction of Grade 13 in Ontario
Minister does not see this happening, but there is flexibility for those who want to go back to school an addition semester/year should they want addition courses or upgrade
Test scores and labeling schools
The problem is that info outlets like the media pick up the test results (from the government website) and then draw deductions and label schools/boards based on their interpretation of those results
Should Civics be taught in Grade 12 rather than Grade 10?
Good point, it’s on the agenda and being dealt with now
Need for review of the curriculum
There have been changes, but need to have recent changes settle in before more modifications to the curriculum are made
Facilities of the future
Recent expert panel to review; need to be using consistent templates that are province wide i.e. updating benchmarks such as room sizes, community spaces (theatres vs. cafetoriums). More to come on this
Ted thanked the Minister for her Remarks and discussion, and invited the group to join them in the adjacent room for the Parent Town Hall.
Date of Next Meeting – Spring 2010
