Changes in Ontario schools
The government is committed to create a world-class education system that will prepare students for tomorrow's world.
Each Canadian province has its own peculiarities: traditions and political life, holidays, and laws. The education system is no exception, each province differs from the others, although all have common goals.
Ontario's legislative changes will lay the foundation for a first-class education system working toward the same priorities: to improve student outcomes in important life-long skills like reading, writing, and math.
It is important to note that school board performance varies across provinces in terms of indicators related to literacy, math, and other skills and knowledge.
Some boards actively share their vision and plans with parents, allowing them to evaluate the board's work. Other schools are less open, so the province decided to unify requirements for all school boards.
Ontario government has decided to set common priorities and requirements. School boards will become more organized. Proposed legislative and future regulatory changes, if passed, would:
- Allow the Minister of Education to set provincial priorities to focus boards in important areas of student achievement, like reading, writing, and math.
- Require school boards to report on progress toward these priorities and enable the Ministry of Education to support struggling boards sooner.
- Allow the minister to require school boards to make any report that the minister may require from the board available to the public.
- Require enhanced school board financial reporting on funding and spending, planned and actuals.
- Allow the minister to strengthen rules around financial accountability and transparency.
- Allow the minister to prescribe school board limitations in participating in business activities that could place school boards at financial risk.
- Allow the minister to enhance the financial accountability of school board-controlled entities.
- Promote greater school board-municipality cooperation on delivering child care.
- Enable an accelerated apprenticeship pathway.
School board leadership plays a crucial role in ensuring that Ontario's education system focuses on those life-long skills: reading, writing, and math.
In total, Ontario school boards have about 700 trustees, activists, parents, and philanthropists who make critical decisions for local schools and communities.
Directors of Education also play a vital leadership role in school boards by managing the day-to-day operations of schools, student transportation, the building of schools, and oversight of thousands of teachers, education workers, and administrators.
