Education
May 6, 2010
The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by
the Honourable Darin King, Minister of Education:
Provincial Government Invests in Teacher
Housing in Labrador
I rise in this house today to announce
that our government is providing approximately $600,000 to the Labrador
School District to support housing for teachers in two coastal
communities — the Town of Postville and Rigolet.
For remote communities in Labrador, providing living accommodations is a
key factor in the recruitment and retention of teachers. And, the
recruitment of teachers is essential to ensure that we continue to offer
quality education for students in Labrador.
The school district will investigate options to purchase existing
housing in each community. If there are no viable options available,
construction on two new homes will begin. Combined, these houses will
provide a minimum of nine new rooms for teachers who work in these two
communities for the upcoming school year. Together with the new homes
constructed in Makkovik and Cartwright over the last two years, for
which we invested $345,000, this will result in 15 new spaces for
teachers in rural Labrador. This brings our total investment in teacher
housing in Labrador to almost $1 million over a three-year period.
This is great news for the people in these communities. Housing in rural
and remote areas can present unique challenges and through this funding,
we are working to address these challenges head-on for the benefit of
our education system.
Our government continues to make education in Labrador a priority. With
an investment of over $24 million in infrastructure funding for the K-12
and post-secondary systems in Labrador this year alone, we are ensuring
that students in this region receive their education in quality learning
environments. This includes:
- $5.36 million to complete
construction of a new school in L'Anse au Loup;
- $7.37 million to complete
construction of a new school in Port Hope
Simpson; and,
- $11.46 million for the construction
of the new College of the North Atlantic Labrador West.
In fact, by the end of the coming fiscal
year, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador will have spent more
than $2.4 billion in Labrador across all sectors since its first budget
of March 2004.
This government's commitment to education is unprecedented. Budget 2010:
The Right Investments for Our Children and Our Future will see a record
$1.3 billion invested in our K-12 and post-secondary systems this year.
With that kind of commitment, everyone benefits — school boards,
teachers, and most importantly our students.
2010 05 06
1:50 p.m. |