Archive for the ‘Education Debates’ Category
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Canada’s culture of excellence in education
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
Jan 26 2011
the OECD… praises Canada for its positive approach to immigration that is evident in narrow achievement gaps between students from different social backgrounds…. The province is praised for its urgent focus on measurable improvement in literacy and numeracy; its ability to set a clear plan and sign up key stakeholders to commit to it, including teachers; its sophisticated use of achievement data to pinpoint problems
Tags: globalization, participation, standard of living, youth
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The kids are all right, but we could be doing better
Thursday, January 13th, 2011
Jan. 11, 2011
… our efforts in education — through at-risk programs and early childhood initiatives — are paying off. We’re not getting ahead, but we’re not falling behind, either. But now comes the C.D. Howe Institute’s warning that dropout rates for boys, students in poverty and aboriginals, are too high… The report makes four recommendations:
Tags: child care, poverty, youth
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The good, the bad and the ugly education facts
Wednesday, January 12th, 2011
Jan. 12, 2011
Canadian results ranked in the top 10 in every category, beating every Western industrialized country except Finland. But Canadian scores dropped in reading, science and math since the last PISA test in 2000… it’s education, not health care, that will light a path to a more productive future. As Canada ages, however, the public pressure to spend even more on health and less on education will intensify.
Tags: budget, standard of living, youth
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We’re overdue for a digital-economy strategy
Sunday, December 26th, 2010
Dec. 26, 2010
… while access to broadband Internet for all Canadians should be a central piece of Ottawa’s digital-economy strategy, it isn’t an end in itself. Broadband enables economic growth and innovation but its full potential won’t be realized without the ability of Canadians to access, use, understand and create with digital technology. In other words – until our citizens are fully digitally literate… any serious engagement with digital literacy must begin with children, not working adults, and must take a wide approach.
Tags: globalization, standard of living, youth
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First nations’ Quiet Revolution will begin in the classroom
Thursday, December 23rd, 2010
December 23, 2010
Canada has about 110,000 children of aboriginal identity under the age of five. Based on current conditions, we could expect that most will live in poverty and that only half will graduate from high school. There are many reasons for this discouraging outlook, and not the least is the sad fact that there is no first-nation school system. “Most First Nation schools are stuck in the old model of the village school that existed prior to rural school consolidation.” No wonder National Chief Shawn Atleo has made education his first priority…
Tags: Indigenous, participation, standard of living, youth
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Record on education is Ontario premier’s best case for re-election
Thursday, December 23rd, 2010
… the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) released rankings of 15-year-olds’ academic performance… (with) Ontario performing well above the Canadian average, catching up to Alberta (which had previously led the country) and trailing only Shanghai in literacy… The next big test, beyond the somewhat messy rollout of full-day kindergarten… will likely include targeting boys’ literacy (which lags well behind girls’), improving performance in science, and getting more high-end students into elite status.
Tags: standard of living, youth
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Harper’s belated move on native education
Monday, December 20th, 2010
Dec 20 2010
Harper has made progress on the symbolic front… including the apology for abuses in residential schools and the ratification of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. But he has been slow to embrace Kelowna-like measures to improve the quality of life for First Nations and other native peoples… the problems have continued to fester, notably in native schools. In the U.N. index of educational attainment, Canada’s status Indians rank 71st in the world, as opposed to the No. 1 ranking for non-aboriginal Canadians.
Tags: Indigenous, standard of living, youth
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Our choice: Spend the money or lose the brightest
Wednesday, December 15th, 2010
Dec. 15, 2010
Support for foreign graduate students is controversial in Canada… Ontario’s recent announcement of a plan to lure 75 of the world’s best students deeply miffed both opposition parties. They suggested the money would be better spent on outstanding Ontario students…Attracting the best foreign students to Canada isn’t a luxury we can no longer afford. It’s an ever more pressing necessity. Either we spend the money to do it or we’ll lose (possibly forever) the very best Canadian students.
Tags: budget, economy, immigration, multiculturalism
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Ottawa, chiefs agree to pursue wholesale reform of native education
Friday, December 10th, 2010
Dec. 09, 2010
The emerging consensus for reform involving both the federal and provincial governments and native chiefs “is quite extraordinary and unprecedented”… [Indian and Northern Affairs Minister] Duncan and National Chief Shawn Atleo jointly announced Thursday that an expert panel will have until the middle of next year to come up with a new plan for on-reserve education that is standards-based, accountable and both culturally and regionally appropriate… For the 113,000 children in native schools, so many of whom are at risk, they can’t come too soon.
Tags: Indigenous, standard of living, youth
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$5-million gift will double child education centre
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010
Dec 06 2010
Eric Jackman thinks his mother would approve of his $5 million gift to the University of Toronto’s Institute of Child Study… “A lot of money goes into higher education, but as far as I’m concerned, primary education and early child development are the most important things in society,” he said. “If we can get our children off on the right start, healthy kids will grow up to be healthy, productive adults. “I think it’s imperative in the long run that we have a greater focus on the healthy start in life rather than curing sickness later in life. The early years are so crucial.”
Tags: child care, participation, philanthropy, standard of living
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