Education
February 14, 2007

At the 91st meeting of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), which was held this week in Toronto, education ministers reaffirmed the importance of a strategic agenda for post-secondary education and skills training in Canada as outlined in the Council of the Federation report, Competing for Tomorrow.

Ministers understand the great importance of post-secondary education for Canadians. Provinces and territories not only have the constitutional responsibility over education, but are in the best position to develop policies, objectives and programs that are responsive to the specific needs of each jurisdiction. The federal government must recognize and respect provincial and territorial responsibility and leadership by providing substantial, predictable, stable and ongoing funding through unconditional transfers to provincial/territorial governments.

"Our post-secondary systems are under considerable stress as a result of chronic underfunding by our federal partners," said the Honourable Joan Burke, Minister of Education for Newfoundland and Labrador and Chair of CMEC. "My colleagues and I call on Prime Minister Harper�s government to step up to the plate and deliver on its promise regarding investments in post-secondary education in the upcoming federal budget. The future of Canada�s students and Canadian society is at stake."

In 2005, Canada�s premiers called on the federal government to fully restore post-secondary education transfers to 1994-95 levels, as a first step to adequately supporting post-secondary education in Canada. Ministers emphasized that restoring this level of transfers would demonstrate an acknowledgment by the federal government that post-secondary education is an essential investment for Canadians, and ministers called on the federal government to make this reinvestment immediately.

Ministers of education continue to show leadership in the area of literacy by implementing the next phase of the CMEC Literacy Action Plan which will include:

• the creation by each jurisdiction of formal policy frameworks on literacy for both school age and adult learners;
• the creation of networks for K-12 and adult literacy to allow provinces and territories to share ideas about promising literacy practices;
• the development of a strategy for research and data gathering in the area of literacy.

Ministers will also engage with Canadians on the importance of literacy and the need to ensure that people have the skills, knowledge and abilities to compete and succeed in the global economy and participate fully in civic life.

CMEC is an intergovernmental body composed of ministers responsible for elementary, secondary and advanced education from the provinces and territories. Through CMEC, ministers share information and undertake projects in areas of mutual interest and concern.

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2007 02 14                                                11:25 a.m.