I'm writing in response to Todd Whitcombe's column "BC Liberals break promises" published July 18.
Our government continues to provide record levels of funding for K-12 education in the province at a level of $5.242 billion this year - despite a declining student enrolment.
We remain committed to ensuring all children receive a good education and that they and their families have the support and resources they need to successfully complete their education.
In addition, our government has acted on research that shows early intervention programs better prepare children for success in school and lead to more positive outcomes, including increased completion rates.
For example, thousands of B.C. children attend early childhood learning programs like StrongStart BC and Ready, Set, Learn and this fall, for the first time, all eligible children in B.C. will be able to benefit from full day kindergarten.
We also know that active, healthy students are happier and learn better, which is why there are daily physical activity standards for all students, to ensure that elementary students have at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day, and secondary students have at least 150 minutes per week.
The province has also recently expanded the BC School Fruit and Vegetable Nutritional Program to ensure greater access to healthy and nutritious food, to help students learn better.
These actions reflect our government's strong commitment to learning and healthy living for all B.C. students.
George Abbott
B.C. Minister of Education
