BC Liberal Government Commits to New Learning Roundtable

October 7, 2005

VICTORIA – The BC Liberal Government will invite education stakeholders to take part in a permanent Learning Roundtable to discuss class size, class composition and other issues related to learning conditions in the public school system, Education Minister Shirley Bond said today.

“The government and the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation have always agreed that class size and students’ learning conditions are important and should be discussed – but those discussions need to involve all of our partner groups,” said Bond. “That’s why I’ve instructed Ministry of Education staff to contact our education partners today to meet and form this new Learning Roundtable as soon as possible.”

The roundtable will include representatives of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation, the B.C. Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils, B.C. School Trustees Association, B.C. School Superintendents Association, and the B.C. Principals’ and Vice-Principals’ Association. Participants will be invited to jointly develop terms of reference. 

Bond’s actions followed today’s meeting between Labour Minister Michael de Jong and labour leaders, who spoke of the need for a forum where the B.C. Teachers’ Federation could discuss learning conditions.

“Educators, trustees and parents all have a desire to establish a forum for the serious discussion of issues related to students’ learning conditions that goes beyond what we have now,” said Bond. “We have always been willing to engage in those discussions on a regular basis apart from the bargaining process, through existing forums such as the Education Advisory Council.”

The Province has also committed to hold an annual Teachers’ Congress to invite classroom teachers and others from across B.C. to communicate directly with the government.

“We have always believed that teachers need to be at the heart of discussions about classroom learning conditions and we have consistently invited them to be part of discussions in the past. We also believe that there is a role for parents, trustees and people who are involved in the lives of our children every day,” said Bond. “That’s why we need to create a permanent Learning Roundtable and we invite the BCTF to sit down and work with us to make this a forum for meaningful discussions about our schools. Together, we need to continue building learning conditions that work for all students in British Columbia.”