Parents'
recommendations sought for new provincial parent group
Parent
Voice In Education Project Launches Provincewide Public Meetings
TORONTO, Jan. 31 /CNW/ - The Parent Voice in Education Project is
inviting parents to tell the province how to strengthen the parent voice in
education at the local and provincial level, project chair Gabrielle Blais
announced today. The Parent Voice in Education project will be conducting
hearings in 8 cities across the province to hear from parents directly from
February 15-23, 2005.
"We are going to meet with parents in their own communities, to ask for
their input," said Blais. "Our public meetings and other methods of gathering
responses will help us identify the best way to support and encourage parents
to participate in their children's education and the education system."
The Parent Voice in Education Project is encouraging Ontario's parents to
get involved in the creation of a new provincial parent voice. They are
seeking parents' ideas through public meetings, parent meetings, email and
mail-in responses. Parents are invited to attend public meetings that will be
held in 8 different communities from February 15-23. The Parent Voice in
Education Project group has published a discussion paper listing the dates and
locations of the upcoming meetings and outlining details about proposed models
for a provincial parent group. The discussion paper, which includes a response
form for parents, is available on the project group's website www.ontarioparentcouncil.org. It is also being sent to every school in the
province.
The McGuinty government is seeking parents' advice on how to strengthen the role of parents at all levels in Ontario's publicly funded education. The government respects that parents have busy lives and therefore should be
supported in their efforts to be engaged in their children's education.
In November, Minister of Education Gerard Kennedy appointed a group of
20diverse and experienced parent group leaders, reflective of all regions of
the province, to develop recommendations. The Project team was asked to
determine how best to establish an independent voice that could be
representative of and accountable to parents, and how to support parents at
the local school, at the board and regional level and provincially. Included
was
the question of how to accredit representatives of parents at the
Education
Partnership Table that has been established for all education sector
groups to assist with provincial policy decisions. The Project mandate and
further information including a list of the members can be found at
www.ontarioparentcouncil.org.
"We
want parents either through their parent groups or individually to tell us
how parent involvement at the school level can be strengthened. We also
want to know how the parent voice can be heard at the provincial
level," said Blais.
Kathleen
Wynne, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Education, is supporting
the project group through the parent-driven process. "Parents are the
single most important influence on their children's learning," Wynne
said.
"The
more parents who attend our meetings and submit responses, the better able
Parent Voice in Education will be to recommend a provincial parent group
that represents and supports their needs."
Parents
from all regions of Ontario are invited to get involved by
attending
the public meetings or sending their ideas by email to
info@parentvoicein
education.org. Further information about Parent Voice in Education is
available at www.ontarioparentcouncil.org.
www.ontarioparentcouncil.org
