By Don McRae
Minister of Education
March 21, 2013

VICTORIA - British Columbia has a great education system. We have skilled teachers and high levels of student achievement. But as good as it is - education must keep pace with a rapidly changing world.

As a teacher and a parent of two children, I've seen first-hand how our classrooms are changing. Students graduating today are expected to navigate through more information in a single year than those in a previous century were likely to encounter in a lifetime. More than ever, tomorrow's jobs will demand some form of post-secondary education or training.

With this in mind, 18 months ago the Ministry of Education launched BC's Education Plan with a simple, but ambitious goal: to make B.C.'s education system more flexible, dynamic and adaptable. The aim is to put students at the centre of their own learning and ensure a better connection between what kids learn at school and what they experience and learn in their everyday lives.

This is not a top-down transformation. If anything, it is an acknowledgement of the great things already happening in high-performing classrooms, schools, and districts right across our province. Nor is BC's Education Plan a detailed blueprint. Rather, it sets out a vision for where we want to go and how we want to get there.

To help guide the transformation, the plan focuses on five key elements and innovations: personalized learning for every student, quality teaching, flexibility and choice, high standards, and learning empowered by technology.

Personalized learning is a recognition that no two students learn the same way or at the same pace. It recognizes that to succeed in school - and after graduation - students must be engaged and invested in their own learning as they develop and mature.

Quality teaching emphasizes what has been long known -- great teaching has always been the key to student success. So we're strengthening the emphasis on teachers as guides, coaches and mentors as they focus more on helping students learn how to learn.

More flexibility and choice means more choice for students and families with respect to how, when and where learning takes place. BC's Education Plan will help give teachers and schools more flexibility to design programs that really work for students.

It is important to maintain the high standards for which British Columbia is recognized internationally. We're staying solid on the basics, meaning a strong emphasis on reading, writing and math skills for all students.

With technology playing an integral part of a student's world outside of the classroom, it is only natural to extend that relationship to their education. BC's Education Plan encourages new and creative ways to use existing, accessible technology to better support student learning.

We've seen significant progress and engagement since we launched BC's Education Plan. In consultation with a wide range of education stakeholders, we are transforming curriculum to make it easier for teachers and students to explore key concepts in greater detail, and as a result, develop the skills and competencies students will need in the 21st century. In a similar vein, the ministry has reached out to stakeholders to review B.C.'s graduation program and will soon start to explore the future of student assessment.

The government introduced new legislation to provide school districts with more flexibility on school calendars and to make our teacher regulation system more accountable and transparent. The Learning Improvement Act created a new $210 million Learning Improvement Fund to better address complex classroom and composition issues.

We appointed a Superintendent of Reading who is working with school districts to improve reading skills, particularly for students in kindergarten to Grade three. We also appointed a new Superintendent of Aboriginal Achievement to build community partnerships and strengthen Aboriginal completion rates.

We introduced ERASE Bullying, a comprehensive anti-bullying and threat assessment program to create safer and more inclusive schools. And more recently, we launched a comprehensive Skills and Training Plan to raise the profile of skilled trades and provide more opportunities for students to earn graduation credits that can also be applied to a trades certificate or technical program.

We've all got a stake in preparing our young people for success. So, our challenge is clear. The world has changed and will continue to change, so the way we educate students must continually adapt as well. Meeting that challenge is the continuing goal of BC's Education Plan.

Media Contact:

Government Communications and Public Engagement
Ministry of Education
250 356-5963