Post-secondary institution selections for upcoming graduates are now available through the StudentTranscripts Service (STS) website. Please share this information with your students. Schools also now have the option to preview on the School Secure Web what is currently available to an XML post-secondary institution that has been authorized by a student to receive transcript updates via XML data transfer.
Friday December 8, 2023
Deputy Minister of Education and Child Care
Hi, everyone – a lot of updates today. Please find below a number of articles for information including B.C. results from the 2022 Programme for the International Student Assessment (PISA) administration, Child Care funding renewals process for 2024/25, a Call for Responses for Child Care Resource and Referral Services including a Francophone Child Care Resource and Referral Service, and a new 9-8-8 Mental Health Crisis and Suicide Prevention Helpline. Having spent a few days with education colleagues across Canada, I can also say that enrolment growth, AI, literacy & numeracy, and the imperative to better support all Indigenous student success were the main topics. I look forward to debriefing with you.
Have a great weekend,
Christina
For Action
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Reminder – School-Aged Child Care Survey for Parents
The Ministry of Education and Child Care is conducting a parent survey from November 22 to December 14 to better understand the regional and provincial demand for school-aged child care. If you haven’t already done so, please distribute this survey to parents and encourage them to participate. Survey results from each school district will be shared at an aggregate level to ensure anonymity of the responses, and at individual school levels with sufficient parent participation rates. For questions, contact ChildCareBC.Engagement@gov.bc.ca.
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2024-25 Child Care Operating Funding Renewals
Starting in early January 2024, child care providers can apply to renew their Child Care Operating Funding Agreements and opt-in to the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative and Early Childhood Educator Wage Enhancement. For 2024-25, the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative Funding Guidelines and ECE-WE Funding Guidelines are provided in advance to assist with planning. The renewal application period will also open earlier (early January) to help ensure continuous funding for providers and stable fee reductions for families.
For Information
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2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) B.C. results
Results of the 2022 PISA administration were released this week. The international report is available through the OECD, and the Canadian report is available through CMEC. Highlights from this administration include:
- 96 English-language schools and 36 Francophone schools from BC participated in PISA 2022.
- While results indicate some decline in Mathematics, Science and Reading, BC continues to be a high-performing jurisdiction.
- BC’s rankings are higher compared to PISA 2018, and BC students performed at the Canadian average and above the OECD average in all three domains in PISA 2022.
- PISA results provide an opportunity for BC to continue to focus on balancing mathematics and numeracy learning for students.
The Ministry will continue to monitor outcomes through the provincial assessments of numeracy, as well as national and international assessments of mathematics. For further information or questions, please email NatIntQuestions@gov.bc.ca.
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Call for Responses for Child Care Resource and Referral Services
The Ministry of Education and Child Care has issued a Call For Responses (CFR) seeking organizations in service areas across the province to deliver services under the Ministry’s Child Care Resources and Referral (CCRR) program. Interested organizations should visit BC Bid to review the CFR opportunity. Questions can be directed to Procurement@gov.bc.ca at the Ministry of Citizens’ Services.
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Notice to Vendor for Francophone Child Care Resource and Referral Services
The Ministry of Education and Child Care will be seeking organizations that are interested in providing province-wide Francophone services similar to the ministry’s Child Care Resources and Referral (CCRR) program. Interested organizations should monitor BC Bid for the posting of the CFR opportunity. A Notice-To-Vendors has been posted on BC Bid and can be found here. If any current or potential service providers have questions, they can be directed to Procurement@gov.bc.ca at the Ministry of Citizens’ Services.
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New 9-8-8 Mental Health Crisis and Suicide Prevention Helpline
The 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline is a new service available 24/7/365 to help Canadians when they need it most. The service, accessible via call or text to 9-8-8, offers trauma-informed and culturally affirming support to anyone who is thinking of suicide or who is worried about someone they know. This service is also available in the “Take Action” section of the erase Mental Health and Well-being web page.
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Discipline Outcomes
Discipline outcomes are posted to enhance the transparency of the processes and decisions made with respect to complaints and reports about educators. Recently, an outcome was posted regarding Kuljit Singh Uppal, whose certificate was suspended for five days. A summary of another outcome was posted about a teacher whose certificate was suspended for five days. That outcome has been anonymized to protect the identity of a student who was harmed, abused, or exploited by the teacher.
