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Education
March 13, 2013

Education Critic Should Get Facts Straight: Minister

The Honourable Clyde Jackman, Minister of Education, takes strong exception to a series of comments made in the House of Assembly Tuesday, March 12, by the Opposition Education Critic – this time in reference to the academic performance of students in this province, and to the Provincial Government’s commitment to education in rural areas.

“I am flabbergasted by the constant flow of misinformation and misrepresentation of facts issued in public statements, and presented in the House of Assembly, by the Education Critic,” said Minister Jackman. “The latest claim is that our students’ performance on a particular international assessment, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), has declined since 2003. In fact, our results have been consistently high – and there is no statistical difference in the scores recorded by the sampling of students tested in 2003, 2006 and 2009.”

Minister Jackman said this is just the latest in a series of misleading statements made by the Opposition Education Critic in recent months on a wide range of educational issues.

“The truth is that we have a graduation rate of 92 per cent – with more of our students graduating with academic and honours diplomas than ever before,” Minister Jackman said. “We have gone from having the highest drop-out rate in the country to the second lowest, and our students are performing well on national and international assessments. I am tired of hearing the Opposition Education Critic undermining our students and suggesting they are somehow inferior to their counterparts around the world. It is profoundly insulting to our students, our teachers, and all those who work to further education in our province. And it is simply not true.”

Minister Jackman was also taken aback by the Official Opposition’s apparent lack of confidence in the future of rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

“Our government has every faith in the future of our rural communities, and while we do face challenges, we continue to invest heavily in every region of this province,” Minister Jackman said. “In terms of K-12 education alone, almost $224 million has been allocated for major school infrastructure in rural areas - new schools, extensions and redevelopments – while an additional $80 million has been spent on repairs and maintenance. In addition, more than $60 million has been invested in the Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation (CDLI) to support distance education in rural and remote communities.”

Minister Jackman said all members of the House of Assembly have a responsibility to present accurate information to the public.

“While I appreciate the role of the Official Opposition, the constant barrage of pointless negativity and ill-informed commentary is difficult to tolerate when you know some people could conceivably accept it as fact.”

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Media contact:
Heather May
Director of Communications
Department of Education
709-729-0048, 697-5061
heathermay@gov.nl.ca 

2013 03 13               12:40 p.m.

 
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