In the first three years of Manitoba’s smaller classes initiative, the province, in partnership with school divisions, has now hired over 100 new teachers this year, bringing the total of teachers hired for to 315. This announcement was made by Education and Advanced Learning Minister James Allum.
“Smaller class sizes mean teachers have more time to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each student early and help them succeed in their critical early years,” said Minister Allum. “We know that students are more likely to succeed when they have more time with their teachers and I would like to thank school divisions for supporting this important initiative.”
Since the launch of the initiative in 2011-12, the Manitoba government has invested more than $29 million to create or renovate 49 classrooms, creating an estimated 270 jobs and includes $180,000 in funding for a new kindergarten classroom at École Robert Browning School. This year the Manitoba government will invest $3 million for additional teachers, to support the smaller classes initiative, bringing the total funding for teachers this year to $10 million.
Minister Allum noted now more than 59 per cent of kindergarten to Grade 3 classes have 20 or fewer students and 87 per cent of these classes have no more than 23 students than prior to the initiative.
The Manitoba government is building and renovating schools across the province including six new schools under way, new and renovated gyms, new state-of-the-art science labs, high school shops, and new child-care centres, Minister Allum said.
As part of the smaller class initiative, school divisions are required to ensure kindergarten to Grade 3 classrooms are at 20 students or fewer by September 2017. A maximum of 10 per cent of classrooms per division can have the flexibility to go beyond the cap of 20 students to a maximum of 23.
