Premier John Horgan, Rachna Singh, Parliamentary Secretary for Anti-Racism Initiatives, and Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Education, have released the following statement in celebration of Black Excellence Day:

Francophone elementary students, teachers and staff in Greater Victoria are now learning and working in a temporary modular school on the Braefoot Elementary site in Saanich.

A full return to school for students in kindergarten to Grade 12 will be delayed until Monday, Jan. 10, in order to give public health and B.C. schools additional time to adapt to the impacts of the Omicron variant on communities and schools, and to implement enhanced safety plans to support the continuation of in-class learning.  

A newly built extension to École Panorama Heights Elementary will get Coquitlam students out of portables and into more modern classrooms.

First Nations participating in the education jurisdiction initiative in B.C. will soon be able to certify and regulate teachers who work in schools under their jurisdiction.

Guidelines have been developed to support school boards and independent school authorities in their decisions on implementing vaccine requirements for their employees.

Some of B.C.’s youngest learners and their families will benefit from an expansion of the Seamless Day Kindergarten pilot program as it grows from four schools to 25.

Students, families and staff at Surrey’s Morgan Elementary school will soon have room to grow as construction to add eight more classrooms is underway.

In recognition of World Teachers’ Day, nominations are now open for the Premier’s Awards for Excellence in Education.