Monday Province Column
Keep the candidates on their toes with tough questions on learning
David Berner The Province
Monday, September 08, 2008
The kids are back in school.
And elections -- municipal, provincial and federal -- are on the horizon.
A perfect time, then, to reflect on what learning really means in our lives, and what those who seek your vote will really do about education.
There is no purpose in life higher than learning. Wealth, fame, sex, food, and other pleasures are all transitory. The only thing we can still be doing until our last breath is learning. To contribute in any way to the opportunities for young men and women to learn is an honour and a core duty.
As the various political contests heat up, ask the candidates pointed questions about the specifics of their commitments to learning. Here are four good sample questions to get you started:
One. Utilizing dead quiet buildings for everyone's benefit is fiscally-responsible. Will we open school buildings during evenings and on weekends for yoga classes, language labs and the like?
Premier Gordon Campbell said recently that he would like to see schools turned into neighbourhood centres of learning, for people of all ages to use, all year round. "Maybe the best thing is to make schools the centre for the community again," said Campbell. "They are actually centres of learning for everyone."
To this end, the $30-million Neighbourhoods of Learning pilot project will see three Vancouver schools accommodate additional services. Queen Mary Elementary, General Gordon Elementary and Lord Strathcona will be renovated to include new learning opportunities.
That's wonderful, but do we really need all that money spent and only three schools to benefit? How about making hundreds of schools across the province available to their neighbourhoods for those bake sales and clarinet classes?
Two. Drug Prevention. Every school corridor in the land is a drug mart. If you don't know this, you don't know your own kids. Ten minutes a week on drug prevention is better than nothing.
Will we invest in counsellors or recovering addicts to add some real girth to drug prevention? Or, are we going to continue to say nothing about this epidemic?
Three. Obesity. Education Minister Shirley Bond has declared that at least 30 minutes-a-day exercise is now mandatory in B.C. schools. But has she backed it up with a budget? Where are the phys-ed teachers or playground supervisors? Do math and history teachers still "volunteer" for these duties?
Four. Even with the availability of Google and Wikipedia, school libraries are essential. But we are closing and starving these sanctuaries too often in B.C. The heft and smell of a good book in the hands of a student leaning over a wooden table are treasures not to be lost. "School librarian" used to be an honourable title. Is it still?
So challenge the political wannabes for the sake of your children, for the sake of the future.
david@davidberner.com
