It’s a diverse population that speaks dozens of different languages — and it’s providing a set of challenges for Manitoba schools.
A growing number of immigrants and refugees are choosing to call the province home, with the percentage of new Canadians in Manitoba doubling over the last five years.
That means terms that weren’t used decades ago, like after-school integration programs and intercultural support workers, are now commonplace to educators.
RELATED: 4 new schools in Manitoba could be built with public-private model
The increasing population has also meant an increased number of specialized programs and workers for education institutions.
Get daily National news
Jonathan Askholm, who is a team leader at Winnipeg’s N.E.E.D.S, helps refugee students prepare for school. In his classrooms, staff have grown from the 24 members just two years ago, to 80 now.
- ‘Really upsetting’: N.S. mom says son with autism can’t attend school full time due to staffing
- Dawson community marks 20 years since college shooting
- New Brunswick launches subsidized school lunch program amid rollout delays
- Online harms are the biggest threat to Canadian children, new report finds
“These are pretty heavy transitions if you think about what that must be like to have your whole world views changed very suddenly.”
The shift doesn’t look to be slowing down.
In the Winnipeg School Division, one of every six students takes English as an additional language (EAL).
RELATED: What Canada’s population will look like in 2036
“We place them into these program to kind of catch them up on the skills that they would have missed,” Eric Sagenes, the division’s EAL consultant said. “It’s a lot of work.”
The division was able to add new teachers, school psychologists, and a social worker in 2014. They also added new classes that act as a bridge between regular classrooms and added-learning classrooms.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.