Ministerial Statement – Collaboration with Stakeholders in Implementing Premier’s Task Force Recommendations

  • Education and Early Childhood Development

May 2, 2018

The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Al Hawkins, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development:


Mr. Speaker, I rise today in this Honourable House to recognize steps being taken in response to the recommendations of the Premier’s Task Force on Improving Educational Outcomes.

The Newfoundland and Labrador English School District and Conseil scolaire francophone provincial de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador have informed the 40 schools that have been selected province-wide to participate in the Phase 1 implementation of the task force recommendations, including a new Student Support Services Model.

Mr. Speaker, the school districts collaborated with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Education to determine the 40 schools across the province that will be part of this implementation, with consideration given to a fair balance based on demographics that included regional distribution and school size.

A number of committees, with representation from teachers, school administrators, district-level professional staff, professional staff from the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers’ Association, and officials across several government departments, are working on policies and processes to implement recommendations within all nine focus areas of the Premier’s Task Force Report. This includes details around a new Student Support Services Model that will provide an allocation of reading specialists, teaching and learning assistants, and an increase in the allocation of learning resource teachers.

Phase 1 of the task force implementation will include in-depth professional learning for all teachers and administrators, beginning this month.

Mr. Speaker this phase of the implementation has a determined timeline that will see full implementation of the Student Support Services Model in every school by September 2020, and will ensure that the implementation of all recommendations will be completed or well underway by 2022.

I ask all members of this House to join me in acknowledging these important steps forward as we continue to provide quality education for students throughout our province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

2018 05 02 2:25 pm