As part of his Education Policy, Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Brad Trivers has announced that Prince Edward Island needs to review top-ranked education systems in the world and adopt educational best practices.
PEI should adopt best-in-world education systems
“Islanders need elected school boards we can trust, and government needs to stop trying to cut teachers, and close schools”, says Trivers, “but most importantly, if we want our students to receive the best education, we need to look at the top-ranking education systems in the world and do what they are doing.”
Finland is widely recognized as a world leader in education, and there are many differences between the education system in Finland and Prince Edward Island. For example, in Finland, at the age of sixteen, all students get to choose from three paths –vocational training (e.g. trades), preparation for University acceptance (e.g. academics), or enter the workforce. Choosing the vocational path still allows students to take the University entrance examination if they wish.
“I believe we need to improve how we provide vocational training to our Island students”, says Trivers, “and I’m particularly interested in how this works in other jurisdictions”.
As a first step in the examination of educational best practices, Mr. Trivers will be hosting a public Education Forum on Monday July 24th at 9:00am at the Atlantic Technology Centre (4th floor) in Charlottetown. The forum will focus on a video conference question and answer session with teacher and parent participants from Finland. Prince Edward Island educators, parents, and the general public are invited to attend – including decision makers from the Department of Education.
“In order to get back to the basics of an education system that meets and exceeds the needs of our students, we must learn, understand and adopt from the best. I encourage all those with an interest in education to attend and participate in the forum”, concluded Trivers.
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