A traditional welcome and blessing set the stage at Swan-e-set Longhouse today as members of the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows school district, the Katzie and Kwantlen First Nations and the Ministry of Education officially signed their fourth Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreement.

Class sizes in British Columbia remain low and stable while the number of students successfully moving to the next grade has reached record highs.

Speeches, singing and traditional drumming highlighted a new agreement signing to support aboriginal student success in the Okanagan Skaha school district (SD 67).

With a lush green slope as the backdrop, families from Port Moody and Anmore gathered for the official opening of their new $28-million Eagle Mountain Middle school.

The Conseil scolaire francophone (School District 93) marked the signing of their second Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreement with a banquet that celebrated the tastes of First Nations and French Canadian cuisines featuring wild B.C. salmon and a maple syrup dessert.

Bill 11, the Education Statutes Amendment Act (2015) will help school districts reduce overhead costs, establish a modern framework for teacher professional development and put a stronger focus on accountability for student outcomes, Education Minister Peter Fassbender announced.

Under the School Act, Minister of Education Peter Fassbender has directed the Vancouver board of education to allow the special advisor appointed March 12, 2015, Kevin Brennan of Ernst & Young LLP, to complete the duties assigned under that order prior to adopting its budget.