Manitoba is creating a new strategy to tackle high staff turnover in First Nations schools and the achievement gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. Over the last 15 months, the Education Department has been developing a plan to recruit and retain classroom and traditional-language teachers who want to live and work in the North. “Nobody […]

As other provinces police LGBTTQ+ pronouns in schools, Manitoba is doubling down on its support for students to explore their identities on their own timeline. The Education Department released a new provincial code of conduct for kindergarten-to-Grade 12 schools on June 11. The 38-page document provides guidance on how to navigate student behaviour issues and […]

Manitoba’s education minister says her office has issued clear guidance to better support school staff who have been forced to confront a rise in student outbursts and related workplace injuries. Tracy Schmidt said “concerns about health and safety” have been relayed to her office by both the Manitoba Teachers’ Society and non-teaching employees. “What we […]

Julie Braaksma, better known as Ms. Braaksma inside her Brandon elementary school, was called for back-up help when a Grade 1 student burst into a temper tantrum in January. More than 15 years into her career as a resource teacher, the request was not out of the ordinary; in fact, she often tells colleagues to […]

The Kinew government spent more money promoting its universal school meal program this year than it did feeding students in some small divisions. At the start of the 2024-25 school year, the province spent $94,617.50 on advertisements related to the expansion of breakfast, lunch and snack offerings in kindergarten-to-Grade 12 buildings. The campaign — details […]

Twelve days after a University of Winnipeg board member resigned in protest over governance concerns at the cash-strapped campus, his ex-colleagues approved a balanced budget that rests on continued austerity measures. The board of regents — a group of appointees who are alumni, administrators and public representatives, among others, and in charge of policy making […]

Manitoba’s sole cabinet minister has defended her work at a Winnipeg college and said she’s being unjustly targeted more than five years after an investigation concluded she had harassed an employee. At least three employees of Red River College Polytechnic filed separate complaints about the behaviour of their boss, Rebecca Chartrand, in 2019. Chartrand, who […]

Manitoba teachers want answers about how their top union officials plan to bring about stability at their Portage Avenue headquarters after “a rough year.” More than 330 delegates are registered to take part in the 106th annual general meeting of the Manitoba Teachers’ Society this week. Formal proceedings kicked off Thursday morning with an impromptu […]

A University of Winnipeg employee has filed a whistleblower report that calls for a probe into overall operations at the post-secondary institution amid mounting concerns about its leadership. The Free Press obtained a six-page submission to the Manitoba ombudsman about the publicly funded institution under president Todd Mondor. It echoes concerns on campus about employee […]

Cybersecurity experts are scanning a new dataset of leaked files from 12 schools in south Winnipeg for passport scans and social insurance numbers. The Pembina Trails School Division updated staff and student families Thursday about its ongoing probe into a cybersecurity attack that has paralyzed the organization since it was flagged Dec. 2. Superintendent Shelley […]

The Seven Oaks School Division is doing a comprehensive audit of its carbon footprint to create a plan to help staff and students do their part under the 2016 Paris Agreement and signal-boost eco-friendly projects. “It can’t be a select few people caring for the Earth. It’s at the point where we need everybody on […]

The Kinew government plans to break ground on 11 new public schools before the end of its first term by using a template that designers will copy and paste. Budget 2025 sets aside an initial $20 million to carry out the commitment that’s estimated to cost $700 million overall. An excerpt from the 146-page budget […]