Strong Minds

Education is the key to our future because it provides the tools our people, young and old, will need to harness their potential and put their strengths to work for the greater success of Newfoundland and Labrador. Education begins at the earliest years and continues for a lifetime. At all stages, it must be well-focused and effective. With this goal in mind, we have proceeded to develop sweeping strategies stretching from early childhood through grade school to post-secondary education and beyond. We have remained focused on developing an early learning and child care plan for Newfoundland and Labrador that will give young children the foundation they need to grow. We have taken a hard look at all aspects of our grade school system, invested in smaller class sizes, and enhanced curriculum. We have also given parents new opportunities to get more involved to ensure the system meets their children’s needs. We will continue listening to, and working more effectively with, our teachers, enabling them do what they do best as accomplished teaching professionals. At the post-secondary level, we have developed a comprehensive White Paper that ensures our approach and our actions are clearly focused on preparing students effectively according to their particular strengths in ways that will help us build a self-reliant Newfoundland and Labrador, rich in opportunity, diverse in potential, equipped to face challenges, and irresistibly attractive to investors. Our student aid package is the best in the country. Our commitment to keep it that way is unwavering. We believe our investments in students are sound investments in a bright future for all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Investing in brilliant minds and bright ideas makes good economic sense. Innovation is the highway to opportunity. Our innovation strategy is turning these ideas and opportunities into commercial successes and real jobs for our people. Just as the industries that did not exist here centuries ago are economic mainstays today, so too the industries that did not exist here decades ago are giving us a vision of economic opportunities for tomorrow. Defence and aerospace innovations have already created jobs and interest in Newfoundland and Labrador. Broadband technologies have opened up markets and career opportunities that did not exist even a few years ago. In our natural ecosystems whether on land or at sea, in our vast ocean teeming with untapped opportunities, in our resource sectors, in our health care and education sectors, and in so many other corners of our society, we are witnessing the power of innovation to create new business opportunities that we can build upon. We are taking the lead, investing in our post-secondary programs, engaging innovative entrepreneurs and working strategically to ensure that Newfoundland and Labrador can continue to nurture innovative successes right here in our communities. From inventive students of robotics to ingenious researchers of genomics, we are proving that we can be world-class leaders on the leading edge of technology without leaving our home on the edge of North America.

A Progressive Conservative government in its second term will:

for preschool and K-12 students…

through the collaborative work of the Ministerial Council and the Education department division for Early Childhood Learning, expand access to consistent early childhood education to all families, including those in remote regions, low-income families and others throughout Newfoundland and Labrador

undertake early learning and child care initiatives, as described in the section on people

with an investment of about $25 million, extend class size limits of 25 students per classroom incrementally to higher grades: to Grade 4 in 2008, Grade 5 in 2009 and Grade 6 in 2010

implement changes to the teacher allocation formula

in consultation with educators, experts and parents, improve the mathematics curriculum and provide more opportunities for students to achieve advanced/academic math credits

establish five-year literacy and numeracy targets in Newfoundland and Labrador schools; direct the Education Minister’s Advisory Council to consult with educational stakeholders to make recommendations about increasing the performance of our students; and regularly evaluate students’ literacy and numeracy levels according to recognized standards and provide intervention as needed to ensure acceptable literacy and numeracy levels at high school graduation

revise the Individual Support Services Plan

provide school boards with multi-year capital forecasts under the infrastructure strategy to enable boards to set priorities, establish goals and measure performance in accordance with the Transparency and Accountability Act

expand distance education opportunities, increase distance education support to schools and enhance broadband connectivity to rural and remote schools

work with Aboriginal communities on initiatives to address educational challenges, to improve the scope and quality of programs, and to monitor the effectiveness of these initiatives

with a $1 million annual investment, work collaboratively with operators and other stakeholders in continuing to promote safety as we follow through in finalizing and implementing policy recommendations under the Comprehensive Approach to School Bus Safety, which will include measures related to driving training and testing, computerized inspections, carrier safety ratings, self-inspection regimes, and additional regulatory changes to enforce such provisions where appropriate; and ensure safety violations are made known to parents

fully implement the Futures in Skilled Trades and Technology Program, which focuses on skilled trades applications at the senior high level

further expand the Information, Communication and Learning Technologies (ICLT) project to enable more students to apply the internet to learning in the classroom

introduce to the high school curriculum an entrepreneurship course, using made-in-Newfoundland-and-Labrador instructional materials including local case studies that will be specially designed to give students a thorough understanding of the practicalities of establishing and operating businesses of various kinds in Newfoundland and Labrador

encourage and enable high school students to explore a wide variety of career choices, and provide ample information and resources through Career Counselors to parents and students

strengthen the capability of the Newfoundland and Labrador Statistics Agency - in collaboration with business, education practitioners and other partners - to provide schools, students and parents with accurate labour market information reflecting the province’s long-term economic goals and prospects; and strengthen the relationships between the public, private and academic sectors in planning to meet human resources needs

promote among K-12 students the emerging needs in our economy for more post-secondary graduates in information technology and other high-technology disciplines

engage in a full review of all curriculum taught to all our schoolchildren to ensure that they have the literacy, numeracy, and cultural literacy in their own cultures necessary to be informed, productive and fulfilled citizens of the province and to be able to prosper wherever in the world their ambitions take them; and, in particular, review the province’s social studies curriculum to ensure the cultural literacy of all our students in Newfoundland and Labrador culture, heritage and history and to build an understanding of Newfoundland and Labrador today

for post-secondary students…

• continue the dialogue with the Canadian Federation of Students and other student leaders and stakeholders, exploring opportunities to improve post-secondary education and its capacity to prepare students for productive careers in Newfoundland and Labrador
• extend the tuition freeze at Memorial University and College of the North Atlantic for four years, with an investment of $56 million
• with an investment of $48 million, proceed with - and maintain throughout the four-year term ahead - the two-component Student Loan Debt Relief program which, firstly, enables students to receive up-front needs-based grants to offset their borrowing costs and, secondly, reduces the interest on provincial student loan debts to prime making ours the lowest rate on student loans in the country, a measure that will benefit some 46,000 students and graduates in repayment
• continue to provide funding and leadership to implement the policy directives of the White Paper on Public Post-secondary Education and continually monitor progress while consulting with students, institutions and other stakeholders
• work with the Memorial University Board of Regents to implement the recommendation of the independent study on the governance structure of Sir Wilfred Grenfell College which grants the College full university status with a separate executive, senate and budget while maintaining a common Board of Regents; and, to prepare for this natural evolution, the Department of Education will immediately request the Grenfell administration prepare a five-year strategic plan to outline its goals and objectives under its new governance structure
• pursue the implementation of Applied Degrees at College of the North Atlantic
• provide for new student residences at Memorial University’s St. John’s and Grenfell campuses, for which funding was allocated in the 2007-08 budget
• provide a $500 tax rebate to help apprentices purchase new equipment through an investment of $350,000
• continue to implement recommendations of the Skills Task Force report to better prepare Newfoundlanders and Labradorians for existing and emerging employment opportunities in skilled trades and professions in Newfoundland and Labrador
• continue to foster open dialogue among industry employers and labour organizations to ensure we understand changing needs and are well prepared to seize opportunities for skills development
• continue to work collaboratively to increase the participation of women in skilled trades and professions in Newfoundland and Labrador, enhancing women’s work skills and preparedness for trades identified by the Skills Task Force
• establish a journeyperson mentorship program
• increase the number of graduates employed in the province’s public sector with an investment of $350,000
• complete renovations of the College of the North Atlantic Prince Phillip campus in St. John’s
• continue to invest in adult basic education and lifelong learning initiatives to provide people with the tools they need to expand their opportunities for career advancement, income enhancement and greater self-reliance

for innovation…

• fully capitalize on opportunities to foster success stories in a broad range of high-technology sectors by continuing to implement the province’s new Innovation Strategy
• commit $5 million a year for the next three years to launch a Newfoundland and Labrador Research and Development Strategy, and establish a new Crown entity to oversee and direct its implementation
• establish a Research and Development Advisory Council to provide advice on future policy and priorities as they relate specifically to improving our culture of innovation
• establish a Newfoundland and Labrador Ocean Weather Observation and Prediction initiative, also known as the Polaris Program, to enable local institutions and industries to develop the capacity to gather ocean information at key sites around the province using leading edge technologies, to apply it to the forecasting of atmospheric conditions, and to engage these models to improve safety and security in marine environments while at the same time generating economic activity and R&D leadership opportunities in Newfoundland and Labrador
• build on the province’s participation with Rhode Island, Ireland and possibly Iceland in an action plan to deliver an Ocean Observing System for the Northwest Atlantic based in Newfoundland and Labrador
• maintain support for the Marine Technology Development Strategy
• continue to work with the Government of Canada through the Atlantic Innovation Fund and with outside investors to leverage additional funds to move agrifoods projects forward to commercialization
• maintain our investments in key innovation initiatives such as the Commercialization Program, the Innovation Enhancement Program and the Industrial Research and Innovation Fund
• proceed with the Government Broadband Initiative, extending high-speed internet access to public offices throughout the province, thereby opening up new access points through which private utilities, with federal CRTC approval, can extend broadband access to communities throughout most of Newfoundland and Labrador
• support youth innovation by incorporating the concepts of innovation and entrepreneurship in the school curriculum at the Grade 7-9 level to open students up to new ideas and strengthen concepts of innovation and collaborative problem solving in our society

2007 Blueprint (PDF)