Skip to main content

Instead of abolishing school boards the government needs to address the root causes of children having difficulty in school including lead exposure

On  Tuesday April 6, I  spoke in the Manitoba Legislature in a Members Statement  on  the  need for the provincial government  to act  to address the  root  causes  of  student's poor school  performance.  I specifically  mentioned lead exposure as  it is a  preventable cause of learning disabilities, behavioural  issues and poor school performance.   Instead  of acting to screen children and prevent  problems with  lead  exposure, the government is abolishing  school boards.  The government  needs  to act to address learning  disabilities and behavioural problems in children.  It is an example of a measure which could significantly help the effort to improve the educational outcomes  of Manitoba children. 

School Performance of Manitoba Children

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Madam Speaker, the government has raised concerns that our students' performance on international tests could be better. The government has settled on elected school boards as the scapegoat and is acting to abolish them. This is not the answer.

      All the evidence shows 10 to 20 per cent of Manitoba children struggle in school because of a learning disability or a behavioural issue or because their family has a low income or is disadvantaged or marginalized.

      Many school boards have been active to help such children. The board of the Seine River School Division puts extra resources into schools where many students struggle. It has made a difference. They have moved the school division from once being below average to one that is now above average.

      School boards are the solution, not the problem. Manitoba should keep elected school boards.

      The provincial government can and should take other methods to improve student performance. For example, the government should recognize the role that lead exposure plays in decreasing children's potential. Last September, Manitoba Liberals released a report on this. In January 2020, the government released a report from Intrinsik. It predicted a high proportion of children in some areas of Winnipeg will have high blood lead levels in the range where the lead exposure will decrease their potential, but no action has been taken.

      Many children in other jurisdictions are screened early in life to detect high blood lead levels, and then such children are helped. In Manitoba, the former NDP government hid information on lead exposure. The current government is continuing to hide infor­mation by not formally screening children who are at high risk for lead exposure.

      I call on the government to act to screen children now to reduce the impact of lead and to improve the school performance of Manitoba children.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dougald Lamont speaks at Meth Forum last night to present positive ideas to address the epidemic, while exposing the lack of action by the Pallister Conservatives

Last night at the Notre Dame Recreation Centre in St. Boniface, at an Election Forum on the Meth Crisis in Manitoba, Dougald Lamont spoke eloquently about the severity of the meth epidemic and described the Liberal plan to address it.  The Liberal Plan will make sure that there is a single province-wide phone number for people, or friends of people, who need help dealing with meth to call (as there is in Alberta) and that there will be rapid access to a seamless series of steps - stabilization, detoxification, treatment, extended supportive housing etc so that people with meth addiction can be helped well and effectively and so that they can rebuild their lives.  The Liberal meth plan will be helped by our approach to mental health (putting psychological therapies under medicare), and to poverty (providing better support).  It will also be helped by our vigorous efforts to help young people understand the problems with meth in our education system and to provide alternative positive
3 comments
Read more

Manitoba Liberal accomplishments

  Examples of Manitoba Liberal accomplishments in the last three years Ensured that 2,000 Manitoba fishers were able to earn a living in 2020   (To see the full story click on this link ). Introduced a bill that includes retired teachers on the Pension Investment Board which governs their pension investments. Introduced amendments to ensure school aged children are included in childcare and early childhood education plans moving forward. Called for improvements in the management of the COVID pandemic: ·          We called for attention to personal care homes even before there was a single case in a personal care home. ·            We called for a rapid response team to address outbreaks in personal care homes months before the PCs acted.  ·          We called for a science-based approach to preparing schools to   improve ventilation and humidity long before the PCs acted. Helped hundreds of individuals with issues during the pandemic including those on social assistance
Post a Comment
Read more

The Indigenous Science Conference in Winnipeg June 14-16

  June 14 to 16, I spent three days at the Turtle Island Indigenous Science Conference.  It was very worthwhile.   Speaker after speaker talked of the benefits of using both western or mainstream science and Indigenous science.  There is much we can learn from both approaches.   With me above is Myrle Ballard, one of the principal organizers of the conference.  Myrle Ballard, from Lake St. Martin in Manitoba, worked closely with Roger Dube a professor emeritus at Rochester Institute of Technology, and many others to make this conference, the first of its kind, a success.  As Roger Dube, Mohawk and Abenaki, a physicist, commented "My feeling is that the fusion of traditional ecological knowledge and Western science methodology should rapidly lead the researchers to much more holistic solutions to problems."   Dr. Myrle Ballard was the first person from her community to get a PhD.  She is currently a professor at the University of Manitoba and the Director of Indigenous Science
Post a Comment
Read more