According to the minister, this investment is crucial when 20% of schools underperform in mathematics. According to him, it is about the future of students in the professional world.

If we don’t act now from kindergarten and other levels, children will have barriers that will remain for the rest of their lives that will prevent them from finding a job.he emphasizes.

Each year for the past 20 years, at least one-third of students have left high school without attaining the literacy skills required for the modern economyexplains Dyslexia Canada director Alicia Smith, who was invited to speak at the minister’s press conference on Sunday.

This puts these young people at risk for long-term problems such as poverty, homelessness, addiction and mental health problems.She says.

She adds that the racialized, indigenous, socio-economically disadvantaged students or students with disabilities such as dyslexia are also much more affected than others, according to studies done over the past decade.

$109 million for reading and writing

The province had already announced additional funding for learning these basic skills in its 2023 budget, but the ministry is announcing an additional investment of US$109 million specifically for literacy for the year 2023-2024.

First, this is to implement new requirements for the K-2 reading rating.

The province also announces one a fully funded, standardized assessment tool and teacher training to ensure students acquire the necessary life skills and can benefit from early reading interventions.

Minister Lecce also promises to fund specialist apprenticeships that work with small groups of students who need support.

The funds will also enable the recruitment of 700 more teachers.

However, the minister did not specify which schools should be prioritized in this area.

A more comprehensive plan for teaching mathematics

If the minister does not announce more money for mathematics, he specifies that his plan for 2023-2024 is to use the previously announced 71 million dollars.

The government wants to hire 300 additional teachers specifically for mathematics.

The province also reports this a mathematics director per school board to lead the implementation of the mathematics curriculum and standardize education, as well as provide additional support for classroom mathematics trainers.

In addition, the minister announced that virtual tutoring services would be maintained and that digital math tools would be made available to students and parents.

Stephen Lecce states that most of the money will primarily go to the 20% of schools in the province that are not achieving expected standards in mathematics.

Disappointment of the public service union

For her part, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) President Laura Walton is not happy with the announcement.

” The ads still look good, but you need to look at the details. »

Ms Walton estimates that the 1,000 teachers the government plans to hire will not be enough for the province’s nearly 3,800 public elementary schools.

We will lose 7,000 educators as the government cuts pandemic funding. We’ve been told that when we retire 7,000 education workers, there will be funding for student learningoutraged the president of the union.

Laura Walton also thinks that the number of students in the kindergarten classes is too large. If we are really concerned about the education of the students, the priority must be to reduce the number of people in the classesrecommends them.

The President of CUPE calls on the government to sit down and listen to the needs of education staff, teachers, parents and students.

You need to talk to these people and they don’tshe regrets.

With information from Andréane Williams