Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Doug Currie is calling on educational partners across the province to begin a new conversation about the future of education in PEI.
Government has brought significant change to education in the province. Combining early childhood and education services, moving kindergarten into the public school system, and now the promise of an action plan for early learning will have an immediate, positive impact on learning in this province.
A stronger emphasis on literacy and numeracy; new curriculum and resources in Health, Social Studies and Visual Arts; improved Career and Technical Education (CTE) and French language programs as well as summer Cooperative Education opportunities are engaging Island students in learning at every grade level.
“Now it is time to take a serious look at what we want for our education system for the future,” said Minister Currie. “Our ultimate goal is to help our students become well prepared for life and for the world of work. However, that world has changed significantly, and will continue to change. We must ensure our education system can address the current and future learning needs of all our students.”
During the Minister’s Summit on Learning, participants will look at ways Islanders can work together as a community to support students to reach their full potential and prepare for life in the 21st Century. Participants will be asked to consider what students must know and be able to do when they leave the public school system, what students should learn and how they should learn it.
The Minister’s Summit on Learning is scheduled for June 4 and 5 at the Delta Prince Edward in Charlottetown. About 200 educational leaders from early childhood to post secondary, including administrators and educators; students; parents; department and board staff; and school trustees are invited.
“This is an important conversation for all of us and I want the voice of our partners at the beginning of the conversation, not responding to decisions after they are made,” said Minister Currie. “I have called this Minister’s Summit on Learning to stimulate the discussion necessary to create a new learning landscape for the future.”
The key note speaker for the Summit is Charles Fadel, global leader for education at Cisco Systems and the author of “21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times.”