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Published: August 26, 2008 5:00 PMUpdated: August 26, 2008 5:05 PM
While education funding has reached record levels, school districts across British Columbia continue to face falling enrolment, Minister Shirley Bond said Tuesday.
“Our budget for this year is just short of $5.68 billion. But we expect 8,000 fewer students than the 2007-08 school year,” Bond said.
The Ministry estimates 542,509 students will attend public schools in September, including almost 57,000 ESL students and 51,000 aboriginal students.
In a conference call with northern media, Bond said some districts have lost as much as a third of their student population within the past decade. Ministry research suggests the numbers will not stabilize until 2015.
“This is not just in B.C.,” Bond said.
“Jurisdictions all over the world are facing the same trend.”
But it wasn’t all gloom in the Minister’s snapshot of the school system.
“We have 200 StrongStart early learning centres in the province today and that will double to 400 by 2010. We recognize the heavy demand for this program.”
Quesnel has one StrongStart centre at Riverview elementary.
In an effort to combat high and rising levels of childhood obesity, the Ministry will require daily physical activity from all students.
“We’re looking for kindergarten through Grade 9 students to have 30 minutes each day. Secondary students will be addressed a little differently, at about 150 minutes per week,” she said.
“We understand that not everyone is a world-class athlete. So this is very flexible. It can be done in the classroom or at recess, through P.E. or intramural sports.”
Bond said several elementary schools have a “Walk Across Canada” program, where students record how far they’ve walked that day and keep a running total.
On the other side of the health issue, junk food will vanish from B.C.’s middle and secondary schools in September.
“One in four children is obese and these children may have shorter life expectancies than their parents. So we will have strong new requirements on what is available to students,” she said.
“Overall, we have the most significant school health standards in Canada.”
Environmental awareness will be reflected in both school curricula and the schools themselves.
“We are looking at every aspect of how we do things. Every new school built will be to LEED gold standards,” Bond said.
“We’re working on recycling programs, energy use, lighting and bus emissions. In January we unveiled our first hybrid school bus, in Kelowna.”
Bond said new courses will be offered with a specific environmental focus, such as Sustainable Resources 11 and 12. Existing science courses will now include instruction on climate change and sustainability.
