Policies - Education

Access to Post Secondary — AIDS Education — Book Banning — Children Living in Poverty — De-emphasize testing/evaluation — Early Childhood Education (pre-Kindergarten) — Environmental Awareness Education — Indigenous Students — Learning Foundational Skills — Out of Class Tutoring — Professional Development for Teachers and School Administrators — School Instruction Time Allocation & Management — Sex Education — Teaching for Critical Thinking — Universal Free Meals in Schools

Education – Access to Post Secondary

Approved: 2019

Whereas:

Most parents want their children to acquire some post-secondary education and training;
An ever increasing number of jobs require some post-secondary education and training;
Significant post-secondary student debt is becoming ever more prevalent; and
The prospect of significant post-secondary student debt can be a barrier to students aspiring to post-secondary education and training, especially students from low income circumstances;

Be It Resolved:

The Green Party of Manitoba supports:

the Department of Education ensuring that students in need of financial assistance receive at least 50% of eligible assistance as non-repayable financial assistance; and
the repayment of all assistance which is received as a loan be through an Income Contingent Repayment plan, based on the ability to pay.

Education – AIDS Education

Approved: May 28, 2023

Whereas:

The AIDS Epidemic, as a direct result of a suppressed response upon its discovery, has now resulted in over 40 million deaths¹;
Approximately 650,000 people worldwide died of HIV-related causes in 2021 alone¹;
The coverup and suppression of the AIDS epidemic ended almost immediately upon discovery that it had entered heterosexual communities, and the rhetoric of the time was that it was not a threat that had been discovered, but that it had “been contained to small groups before” and was “now a threat”²;
World governments openly admitted in an attempt to establish credibility that they had observed the virus go through homosexual communities and taken no action³;
Such an intentional suppression, that nearly wiped out an entire generation of queer people and spread to over 84 million people can only be fairly described as a genocide¹;
Education on the history of the AIDS Epidemic as a whole is lacking in our education system, while education on its causes and the suppression campaign are missing completely, despite being by all means one of the most significant historical events of the last 50 years;
Stigma, discrimination and apathy towards drug users affected by AIDS persist today by communities and world governments, and
Stigma, discrimination and apathy surrounding the AIDS virus remains prevalent within sex-negative communities and governments, continuing to harm affected individuals and communities of all orientations.

Be It Resolved:

The Green Party of Manitoba supports:

The addition of content pertaining to the history of the AIDS epidemic, its causes and the suppression campaign to social studies curriculums of all Manitoba school divisions, and
Officially designating the actions of world governments during the beginning of the HIV epidemic as a genocide of queer people, and demands that governments around the world do the same.

References

Education – Book Banning

Approved: 28 May 2023

Whereas:

Many advocacy groups seeking to remove “explicit” materials from libraries focus solely on books that address or feature queer people and issues, while neglecting similar materials that focus on cishet individuals and issues;
Individuals often make intolerant claims to advocate for the protection of children by targeting certain educational materials, when in truth their intention is to suppress such information and perpetuate discrimination against the queer community;
The socially acceptable age at which parents should begin teaching their children about sex and sexual health can vary considerably, and in many cases this education does not begin until well after the onset of puberty, and the point at which their children begin to experience significant biological changes;
Although it’s often said that the responsibility of teaching children about sex, sexual health and puberty falls on the parents, it’s worth noting that parents may not always possess the requisite knowledge or expertise to provide accurate and comprehensive education on these subjects, especially when deprived of relevant education themselves. Even when well-intentioned, the knowledge and capability of parents to educate their children on these issues often does not align with the needs of their children;
Withholding essential information to preserve an abstract ideal of childhood innocence, is misguided and may reflect a self-centered mindset on the part of the parents. By prioritizing their own perception of their child and status as a parent, they may fail to recognize the child’s essential humanity, individual experiences and needs; and
Educational literature pertaining to sexuality, sexual health, puberty and queer issues and identities serve as crucial resources for all adolescents in their formative years, and hold even greater significance for queer teens, and Education on some subjects may inherently entail topics that may not be deemed appropriate in all contexts. However, it is imperative that an educational environment fosters openness, provides fully accessible information, and promotes honesty;

Be It Resolved:

The Green Party of Manitoba:

Asserts that young people have the right to be educated on matters pertaining to their own bodies;
Supports the freedom of speech and expression, as well as the freedom of information and the right to access that information;
Strongly condemns the suppression and censorship of educational materials informing youth about puberty, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and sexual health.
Strongly condemns the suppression of books that feature queer individuals and issues; and
Supports, where strictly necessary, provincial intervention to protect our libraries from bans and censorship.

Education – Children Living in Poverty

Approved: 2019
Revised and Approved: 5 January 2021

Whereas:

Manitoba has a significant percentage of children and youth living in poverty; and
Research and experience indicate that children and youth living in poverty are more likely to experience academic and other difficulties in school, and are less likely than other students to graduate from high school;

Be It Resolved:

The Green Party of Manitoba supports:

School divisions putting into place educational programming and services that are designed to specifically address the academic needs of children and youth living in poverty;
Putting into place programming and services that are designed to specifically address the in-school social needs of children and youth living in poverty; and
Ensuring actions are taken by all schools to engage parents/caregivers of students in poverty in the education of their children.

Education – De-emphasize testing/evaluation

Reviewed: 17 December 2022
Approved: 12 February 2023

Whereas:

testing narrows the range of what is taught in school and how it can be taught by making testability a necessary criterion in establishing a curriculum;
Testing promotes the idea that education is little more than a competition for marks, with winners and losers;
Test performance is a poor measure of what students are learning; and
Testing and evaluation tend to discourage students who get low marks from further effort;

Be it resolved:

The Green Party of Manitoba supports:

the role of testing and formal evaluation in school be minimized, and teachers instead given the means to make meaningful assessments of their students’ progress; and
discontinuing standardized tests.

Education – Early Childhood Education (pre-Kindergarten)

Approved: 2019

Whereas:

Learning starts at birth;
Initial school readiness gives students the best chance of long-term educational success; and
Educational success in the early grades (K to 3) greatly increases the likelihood of graduating from high school;

Be It Resolved:

The Green Party of Manitoba supports:

Mandating school divisions, in collaboration with Healthy Child Manitoba and parents/caregivers and the early childhood development community, to develop and implement early childhood education and development programming and initiatives; and
Providing funding to school divisions for early childhood education and development programming and initiatives.

Education – Environmental Awareness Education

Approved: 2019
Revised and Approved: 5 January 2021

Whereas:

The well-being of future generations depends on there being a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable low-carbon economy; and
It is urgent that today’s student learn as quickly as possible how to transition as quickly as possible to a low-carbon economy;

Be It Resolved:

The Green Party of Manitoba supports:

Requiring that all future curriculum development be done from the perspective of teaching students to be ecologically aware and literate;
Encouraging each school to develop and implement an education for sustainability school plan; and
Requiring faculties of education to incorporate into teacher education and training what teachers need to know to teach students to be ecologically literate and live sustainably.

Education – Indigenous Students

Approved: 2019

Whereas:

Indigenous students often feel marginalized and alienated from public schooling;
The Indigenous community is the youngest and fastest growing community in Manitoba; and
Indigenous students as a group have much lower academic achievement levels than non-Indigenous students;

Be It Resolved:

The Green Party of Manitoba supports:

Preparing and implementing a plan to improve the educational experiences of Indigenous students by ensuring that:
- Indigenous students feel welcomed and belong in public schools through the implementation of culturally appropriate educational programming and services;
- Indigenous students are academically successful; and
- actions are taken by all schools to engage parents/caregivers of Indigenous students in the education of their children.

Education – Learning Foundational Skills

Approved: 2019

Whereas:

It is important for young people to:

Acquire important life skills;
Be academically success throughout their school career;
Be effectively engaged in higher-order learning; and
Be effective life-long learners;

Be It Resolved:

The Green Party of Manitoba supports:

Placing a greater emphasis on the teaching of foundational skills in numeracy and literacy, especially in the early years (K-4); and
Reducing wait time for assessing students with learning disabilities so that those who qualify for a special education designation receive early intervention and the necessary supports, regardless of where in the province the student is attending school.

Education – Out of Class Tutoring

Approved: 2019

Whereas:

Many students struggling academically would often benefit from in-school out-of-class extra help;
Many schools are not resourced to provide such help;
Research indicates that falling behind academically is especially problematic and difficult to remedy; and
Many parents cannot afford to hire private tutors to provide such help;

Be It Resolved:

The Green Party of Manitoba supports:

Requiring all schools to make available in-school out-of-class tutoring services to all students and, in particular, for struggling students; and
Providing funding to school divisions specifically in support of in-school out-of-class tutoring services.

Education – Professional Development for Teachers and School Administrators

Approved: 2019

Whereas:

Educational research indicates that the two biggest in-school factors affecting student academic achievement are: (i) teacher competency and (ii) strong school leadership; and
To create the best possible learning environments in schools it is important that teachers, school administrators and school division administrators work well together as a team;

Be It Resolved:

The Green Party of Manitoba supports all school divisions, in collaboration with teachers and school administrators, developing annual professional development plans for teachers and school administrators.

Education – School Instruction Time Allocation & Management

Approved: 2019
Revised and Approved: 5 January 2021

Whereas:

Research indicates that the amount of instructional time correlates with higher student achievement;
Schools should know best what the needs of their students are in terms of the allocation of available instructional time; and
Schools and school divisions in Manitoba currently do not have the authority to alter the hours or days of instruction;

Be It Resolved:

The Green Party of Manitoba supports:

School divisions being able to establish their own schedule of the hours and days of instructional time within the provincially determined number of school days in a calendar year; and
Schools, under the guidance of school divisions, being able to allocate available instructional time during the school day.

Education – Sex Education

Approved: 27 February 2022

Whereas:

Manitoba’s sexual health education aims to promote safety, personal and social management, and healthy lifestyle practices;
Abortion has been the most common outcome of teen pregnancy in most years since 1993¹;
Manitoba’s sexual health curriculum is primarily focused on sexual activities between heterosexual cisgender people and health relating to those relationships including but not limited to pregnancy and STI-transmission;
In 2014 1.7% and 1.3% of people aged 18-59 respectively identified as homosexual (gay or lesbian) and bisexual;
LGBTQ+ youth have a limited number of trusted adults with whom they feel they can safely discuss their sexual health and behaviour;
Student-on-student sexualized violence is common among Canadian students with 26%² of women and girls aged 14-21 reporting having received experienced unwanted sexual contact at school;
Victims and survivors of sexualized violence are unlikely to report it, fearing social consequences;
Sexualized violence is largely preventable through education;
Intersex individuals face social stigma and potential social isolation when revealing their intersex status; and
Such negative social outcomes are preventable through education;

Be It Resolved:

That the Green Party of Manitoba supports implementing a comprehensive sexual health education curriculum including:

The addition of content about abortion, including different types of abortions and how to access abortion; lessons on contraception; consequences and implications of sexual behaviour; and healthy pregnancy;
The addition of content about same-sex relationships including sex between same-sex individuals, STI and disease prevention in same-sex relationships, and sexual orientation;
The addition of content about sexualized violence and prevention including topics such as consent, reporting sexualized violence, and supporting peers who have disclosed experiencing sexualized violence; and
The addition of intersex individuals to the curriculum in modules on reproductive anatomy.

References

Education – Teaching for Critical Thinking

Approved: 2019

Whereas:

What is taught in school can only really be learned – not just memorized for the test and forgotten – when students are actively engaged in the subject matter and see it as meaningful in their future; and
Good teachers can guide and inspire students best by ongoing interaction, rather than presenting a static lesson to a class;

Be It Resolved:

The Green Party of Manitoba supports:

Shifting the focus of education through the following:
- Promoting habits of critical thinking which would enable students to evaluate the reliability and accuracy of information sources, as well as to formulate rationally supported ideas and communicate them clearly; and
- Centering the curriculum on participation in projects and problem-solving in order to incorporate diverse subject matter and teach a variety of skills, with ongoing emphasis on writing and arithmetic.

Education – Universal Free Meals in Schools

Approved: 28 May 2023

Whereas:

Child hunger can lead to significant detriments to development, immunity, behaviour, concentration, and academic performance ¹;
Studies have shown that nearly 60% students from lower-income communities have gone to school hungry, 12% of whom reported being too distracted by their hunger to learn properly ²;
Manitoba, and the Winnipeg School division in particular, is home to a large volume of lower-income students;
Providing free, nutritiously balanced meals in schools have been highly successful in other jurisdictions throughout the world in improving student health, happiness, and learning outcomes ^3,4,5; and
Providing school meals provides an additional opportunity to teach students about nutrition, food sustainability, and traditional diets;

Be It Resolved:

The Green Party of Manitoba supports:

Providing Lunch and up to one other meal (Breakfast or Dinner) to all K-12 Students in Manitoba public schools, free of charge;
Opening a provincially-staffed commercial kitchen in each school ward for the purpose of preparing school meals; and
Forming a team of nutritionists, farmers, chefs, and indigenous elders/traditional knowledge keepers, to coordinate meal planning for each school division and ensure every meal provided has variety, provides for all of a students nutritional needs in a balanced manner, accommodates various dietary needs, and makes use of locally-produced, ethically-sourced, and sustainable ingredients wherever possible.

References