Education Minister Meets with Provincial & Territorial Counterparts

Education Minister John Ottenheimer had an opportunity this week to get together with his colleagues from across the country at a Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) meeting, where formal discussions were held on several issues of common concern.

During the meeting, held March 1-2 in Toronto, ministers discussed such diverse issues as the principle of inclusion for students with special needs, national testing programs, progress on the development of a Pan-Canadian on-line learning portal and financial assistance for post-secondary students.

"This was my first opportunity as Education Minister to meet with my counterparts from across Canada and to share information and ideas on how we can take a coordinated approach to solving some of the issues we each face," Minister Ottenheimer said.

"It is important to recognize that while each provincial and territorial jurisdiction has unique challenges - and varying resources to address those challenges - there is great value in being able to discuss potential solutions in an open forum with all ministers, as well as during informal talks with individual ministers," he added.

All ministers were presented with a copy of Indicators 2004 - A Report on Schools, which was released by the Department of Education last week.

"I was pleased to have an opportunity to share our report on schools and demonstrate how this province is working with our educational partners to identify areas that need attention and encourage the development of strategies to improve performance," said the minister.

"The report was received with great interest and enthusiasm and was recognized for its broad range of statistical data, which provides administrators, educators, parents, students and others with information they can use to improve our schools."

CMEC is an intergovernmental body composed of the ministers responsible for elementary, secondary and advanced education from the provinces and territories. Meetings are generally held twice a year, concurrent with meetings of provincial and territorial deputy ministers.

Media contact: Lynn Salter, (709) 729-0048

2004 03 04                                        9:05 a.m.