Province drops small classes initiative for 2017-18 school year

WINNIPEG — The cap on class sizes from Kindergarten to Grade 3 is being replaced by a new initiative, which gives school boards the power to decide how to spend government money.

On Tuesday, Education and Training Minister Ian Wishart said the province is replacing the smaller classes initiative, which was first announced in 2011.

The new early years education initiative will instead fund $16 million to school boards across the province, without any spending requirements for keeping class sizes under 20 children.

READ MORE: NDP to spend $15M for smaller class sizes

The idea behind the smaller classrooms initiative was to have 90 per cent of Kindergarten to Grade 3 classes under 20 students. Right now 69.8 per cent of classrooms are under the cap.

“We think it will give school divisions the flexibility to focus on the needs of specific students,” Wishart said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We think it will give school divisions the flexibility to focus on the needs of specific students," Wishart said.

So far more than $48 million has been spent on the smaller classes initiative. Wishart said there was no formal evaluation, but the cap on class sizes didn’t show visible results.

“It held it’s ground but didn’t make an improvement.”

River East School Division Chair Colleen Carswell said the change will allow schools to focus on specific needs of students, whether it be support systems in class, or changing the class sizes accordingly.

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“It’s now going to be based on the flexibility that we have, and the composition of each classroom, and that’s the job that we do,” Carswell said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's now going to be based on the flexibility that we have, and the composition of each classroom, and that's the job that we do," Carswell said.

Both Carswell and Wishart said they don’t think any teachers will be laid off in the transition process.

“Right now we don’t find that as an issue,” Carswell said.