48 per cent of Canadians give public education system a B
According to an Environics poll conducted last August, 7 per cent of Canadians give the public education system an A; 48 per cent give it a B and 36 per cent give it a C. Complete results of the poll conducted for the CBC are available here. Some of the key questions asked
Most important issue facing Canadian schools
According to an Environics poll conducted Aug. 1 to 13, 2008 for the CBC, Canadians rank the following as the most important issue in the Canada’s public education system:
Lack of funding of schools/spending cuts/school closings: 12 per cent
Large class sizes/lack of individual attention: 12 per cent
Poor quality teaching: 6 per cent
Need more fundamentals (math etc.): 6 per cent
Curriculum issues: 6 per cent
Poor quality education (general): 5 per cent
Discipline issues: 4 per cent
Keeping kids motivated: 3 per cent
Literacy/reading/writing lack of phonics: 3 per cent
Lack of teachers/staff: 3 per cent
Violence/crime/order: 2 per cent
Special needs students: 2 per cent
Values/morals/character building: 2 per cent
All other answers: 18 per cent
Don’t know/no answer: 15 per cent
Rank the quality of education in your province
Asked to assess the quality of education offered in their home province, 8 per cent of Canadians said it was excellent; 49 per cent said it was good and 28 per cent said it was adequate.
Is Canada’s elementary system better or worse than 10 years ago?
21 per cent of Canadians think today’s elementary school system is better than it was 10 years ago; 23 per cent think it’s worse and 43 per cent say it’s about the same.
Is Canada’s secondary system better or worse than 10 years ago?
Asked about the secondary school system, 20 per cent of Canadians say it is better; 24 per cent say it is worse and 42 per cent say it’s about the same.
What should children learn?
Asked what children should learn in school, 82 per cent said it was very important that students learn to manage a household budget; 68 per cent said it was very important to study Canadian history and 59 per cent said it was very important to learn how to cook a meal.
Are schools strict enough?
Asked about how strict the school environment is 3 per cent of Canadians said the environment is too strict; 61 per cent said it was not strict enough and 33 per cent said it was about right.
See here for all the poll results and other news stories including an interview with the Calgary Board of Education’s Pat Cochrane with regard to CBE’s award-winning governance model. |
