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| Backgrounder(s) & FactSheet(s): | Backgrounder |
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| Backgrounder(s) & FactSheet(s): | Backgrounder |
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VANCOUVER – The government will provide an added $50-million one-time grant to school districts this year as a result of savings in the Ministry of Education’s budget, Premier Gordon Campbell and Education Minister Christy Clark announced today.
“We’re committed to ensuring that education dollars go to meeting the needs of students first,” Campbell said. “By carefully managing the ministry’s budget, we’ve been able to provide an additional grant to districts for the second year in a row. Districts will be able to use these extra dollars to meet the local priorities of the students they serve.”
On Jan. 31, the government announced that it was protecting the $3.79-billion school district grant in the upcoming 2003-04 fiscal year, at a time when student enrolment is declining. The number of full-time equivalent students has fallen by more than 15,400 students since 1998-99, from 602,678 to 587,247, and is projected to decrease a further 4,700 in 2003-04. This means that operating funding per student next year will have increased by $662, or more than 11 per cent, since 1998-99, from $5,844 to $6,506.
In addition to the $3.79-billion district grant, the province provided a further one-time grant of $42 million last March for B.C.’s school districts in 2001-02. This year’s one-time grant of $50 million was achieved through prudent fiscal management and lower debt-servicing costs. It will be allocated on the basis of student population.
“Clearly, as we build a quality education for B.C. students, every dollar possible must be directed to where it’s needed most – the classroom,” said Clark. “We will continue to ensure that we’re honouring our New Era commitment to devote more of each education dollar to improving the quality of student education.”
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