Education Minister delivers end-of-year report card

A lot of work will be underway this summer as teachers prepare for an upcoming school year that is expected to look different from the rest.

Manitoba's Education Minister, Cliff Cullen, is thanking teachers and education staff for their work over the past year with its many changes.

"Schools, for the most part, were safe places. Protocols were put in place and procedures were put in place to keep our students safe and for the most part out schools were safe facilities," Cullen says. "We are optimistic for the best but have to plan for the other situations other scenarios."

Cullen says the Education Ministry is working with Public Health and schools to assure students are kept safe.

He says the province is obligated to make improvements to the education system and will be working on that throughout the summer. Cullen will be meeting with the Manitoba Teacher's Society on Monday.

The 2021-2022 school year will be the first year since the pandemic where some students will be vaccinated.

"Clearly the vaccination rates are heading in the right direction. I think we are optimistic we will get more students vaccinated over the course of the summer," Cullen says. "When we get more people vaccinated we think that will enhance the safety of our schools."

Currently, only 12-17-year-old can get a Pfizer vaccine. There are currently slowdowns in shipments, limiting second doses for June and July for this age group.

Cullen is expecting a return to full-time in-person learning, with some expectations for students in need of remote learning. To help with this, $58 million is being diverted, as announced in May, to the next year for pandemic protection, including $5 million for remote learning.

"We have about a thousand students who may need that particular service, so certainly various areas for that funding can be used."

He says this includes mental health and wellness and professional learning.