Success for Students

Ontario families want the best public education for their children.

The Rural Plan's goal is to ensure rural Ontarians have the opportunity to succeed. The plan equips and encourages our youth to pursue meaningful and rewarding futures.

Our Best Start Plan for child care, early learning and healthy development is helping more children arrive in Grade 1 ready to learn.

In elementary schools, test results were up in 2006 and new programs were initiated to help those students who could benefit from extra assistance.

As we achieve higher graduation rates, we need more post-secondary opportunities. The Ontario government responded with the most significant investment plan for post- secondary education and training that this province has seen in 40 years. At the same time, apprenticeship and training programs have created many new opportunities for both rural and urban youth.

Working with business to ensure the success of our students does just that. It works. The government’s $70-million investment in a new, rural-based Toyota factory will help build a state-of-the-art technology training facility for workers and help create 2,500 jobs.

Rural schools help bind smaller communities together and when our kids finish their school day, school boards keep the schools open for community groups. We know this is a community service and we’ve invested $20 million annually since 2003 to help school boards budget for community use of schools.

Quality Education

The word, “quality”, says it all. Education in rural Ontario isn’t just about getting a passing grade. It’s about being ready for the future and having every reason to be optimistic about your future.

We have 300,000 rural students spread out from Lake-of-the-Woods to Amherstburg and that means we need programs that work in very different circumstances. One such initiative is a web-based forum called YouthConnect.ca which allows young people to access services, information and resources to help them make good choices and achieve success.

We have continued the Student Success Lighthouse Program and channelled $12 million into 159 innovative programs across the province, all aimed at helping kids stay in school through to graduation.

Goal

• Quality education close to home

Strategies

• Respond to the needs of rural schools
  
  
• Provide opportunities for access to education and information resources
  
  
• Develop a comprehensive early learning and child care plan
  
  
• Increase access to schools for community groups

Our Progress

• In addition to more teachers, we are also supporting over $100 million in new capital projects to create new classrooms needed in rural schools.
  
  
• Test scores are up. Sixty-four percent of Grade 3 and 6 students are meeting or exceeding provincial standards for reading, writing and arithmetic.
  
  
• Funding was increased by $1,800 per pupil for rural school boards. That’s a 24 per cent increase.
  
  
• The government made a commitment to raise the graduation rate to 85 per cent of students by 2010-11. We are already seeing progress. The graduation rate rose three percentage points to 71 per cent in 2004-05.
  
  
• A $1.12-billion School Foundation Grant has been created to guarantee every school is funded for a principal and secretary, regardless of the school's size.
  
  
• The Good Places to Learn initiative is funding $255 million worth of repairs, renovations and new construction in schools in rural Ontario over two years. Of this total budget, $85 million was allocated in 2006.
  
  
• Our Best Start Plan for healthy development, early learning and child care has created nearly 15,000 new child care spaces of which 8,552 are in schools. The Best Start Networks in rural communities tailor the implementation of the plan to meet local needs. Enhanced funding has been provided for initiatives like the Healthy Babies Healthy Children Program, Pre-school Speech and Language Program, and the Infant Hearing Program.

  The communities of Lambton and Chatham-Kent and the District of Timiskaming have been chosen as demonstration sites to implement the full Best Start vision at an accelerated pace. To attract and retain qualified early childhood educators, for example, the District of Timiskaming has developed education grants for local students registered in recognized Early Childhood Education Programs at post-secondary institutions. The communities of Lambton and Chatham-Kent hosted a Summer Institute in 2006 which brought together early childhood educators, kindergarten teachers and children’s services providers to examine the integration of child care and JK/SK programs with the goal of helping children make an easier transition to Grade 1.

• We’ve improved the way rural youth get to school by investing $12 million more in student transportation in 2006.

  Lots of new training equipment moved into Ontario colleges during 2006. Loyalist College in Belleville upgraded its culinary lab and built a new lab to train apprentice bakers. Cambrian College in Sudbury modernized its equipment used to train apprentice welders and millwrights. In all, eight colleges upgraded through the Apprenticeship Enhancement Fund.

• We’re increasing funding to northern and rural colleges through the Reaching Higher Plan to provide greater access to high-quality programs. We want northern and rural students to have a strong local choice for post-secondary studies. In 2006-07, an additional $20 million was provided to improve access to high-quality programs in rural and northern communities.

• The Contact North/Contact Nord network provides access to education and training in small, rural communities to support local economic and social development. In 2006, we provided $1.5 million so that 20 additional communities could access the network’s more than 570 college and university courses.
  
  
• The Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program provides opportunities for First Nation youth to apprentice in trades while earning credits toward their Ontario Secondary School Diplomas.

  Chesley District High School has developed a pilot agri-business program that builds on two locally developed courses: animal science and horticulture. The program prepares students for a variety of destinations following graduation. Students have the opportunity to work with farm animals and plants on-site in an updated barn and greenhouse facility. The program also involves co-op placements in the agriculture sector.

• We launched Parents Reaching Out grants with $1 million in 2006 to help school councils develop projects that help parents get involved with their children’s education.
  
  
• E-Learning is another pilot project aimed at increasing the choice of courses and resources available to students, which is particularly beneficial for those living in rural areas. Currently, over 50 school boards have signed on to participate in the program. In all, 29 credit courses and more than 3,000 digital resources are available electronically.
  
  
• Schools are important centres of activity in rural communities. Through the Community Use of Schools program, the Ontario government has kept school doors open to community groups. For each of the past three years, the province has provided $20 million to school boards to reduce or eliminate fees for community use of school space.
  
  
• To engage the creativity of secondary students, we have allocated $1,000 per secondary school to support student-led activity focused on creating healthier schools.
  

  At the District School Board of Niagara, 20 students enrolled in the construction major, made possible under the Specialist High Skills Majors, are building homes with Habitat for Humanity for low income families. Students are bringing their classroom knowledge to the construction site and making a difference in their community. “Students earn valuable experience through hands-on learning … construction companies get a future skilled labour force and families in need gain a fresh start in life,” said Warren Hoshizaki, Director of Education for the District School Board of Niagara.
  

Quick Rural Plan Links

• Introduction
• Jobs and Prosperity
• Better Health
• Conclusion

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For more information:
Toll Free: 1-888-588-4111
Fax:1-519-826-4336
E-mail: rural.omafra@ontario.ca