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ShareEDITORIAL: Province to blame for education turmoil
Published: September 16, 2008 3:00 PMUpdated: September 18, 2008 8:36 PM
It’s time the government of British Columbia shows better leadership and voices the direction it intends the province’s education system to travel.
School boards are receiving mixed messages when it comes to funding, school capacities, classroom composition, school closures, all-day and early kindergarten, seismic upgrades and now, ‘leaky condo’ syndrome.
Words like ‘priority rating’ get tossed about while trustees try to work with what little they have.
A school is not eligible for upgrades until the district is running at near capacity in all buildings.
Never mind that a district like Nanaimo might have schools in the north end operating at more than 100 per cent capacity.
If schools elsewhere in the district have empty classrooms, everyone suffers.
Meanwhile, children are attending classes in buildings that have moisture problems outside the vapour barriers in the walls, and others that stand a good chance of crumbling if a significant earthquake were to hit.
Do trustees go forward with seismic plans to prevent costs from escalating or do they close a school so one higher on the priority rating can get the work done?
Or do they await the outcome of the all-day kindergarten discussions, which threw a wrench into capacity planning?
Downloading of the tough decisions will put the blame on the school trustees, but the fault belongs on the shoulders of the province.
With surplus after surplus, it’s not like the government doesn’t have the money.
But it needs to provide a clear direction to local decision-makers so they can do their jobs.
Children’s health, future and possibly lives hang in the balance.
Nanaimo News Bulletin
