Manitoba education system not prepared for pandemic, able to respond effectively: Auditor General report

A recent report from the auditor general has found that Manitoba's education system was not prepared for the pandemic, but despite that, it was able to create an effective response.

The report from Tyson Shtykalo said the Department of Education and Early Childhood Learning did not have a coordinated emergency plan in place for the school system.

Shtykalo said the department did not consider risks ahead of time and wasn't prepared for remote learning.

"We expected plans would be in place to ensure a consistent standard of high-quality education is available to all students across the province during an emergency—such as a pandemic," said Shtykalo in a release.

Despite not having a plan, he said the department was able to work on plans "on the fly."

Shtykalo said an emergency plan was put together in a timely matter and the department "maintained an incident management system, provided supports to schools and consulted with stakeholders to identify risks."

As part of the report, Shtykalo also found the department had not yet started recovery efforts.

"The pandemic had impacts on student learning and mental health."

The report said there should have been work with schools and school divisions to ensure weaknesses in the plans were addressed so they could be mitigated in the future.

The report only focused on the department’s work and did not look at other departments such as the office of the chief provincial public health officer, specific schools or school divisions.

As part of the report, Shtykalo included eight recommendations to respond to the long-term impact of the pandemic, and to prepare for a potential future pandemic or a similar emergency.

The recommendations include:

· Developing an emergency management program;

· Define roles and responsibilities for responding to a pandemic or similar emergency;

· Make sure all schools and school divisions have plans in place to address a pandemic and make sure it aligns with the department;

· Develop a communication strategy;

· Work with schools and school divisions to determine the data it would need during a pandemic and how that data would be obtained in a timely matter;

· Work with stakeholders to develop plans to address the long-term impacts of the pandemic;

· Work with stakeholders to gather data and use it to inform plans in the previous recommendation; and

· Work with the Department of Labour, Consumer Protection and government services to improve internet connectivity for better access to online learning for all students in the province.

The full report can be viewed here.

CTV News reached out to the Manitoba Teachers' Society for comment, but they said they are unable to speak on the topic at this time.

In a statement to CTV News, Education Minister Wayne Ewasko said making sure students were learning throughout the pandemic, while also prioritizing health and safety, was a key priority.

"The review period was from January 2020 to February 2021, during the pre-pandemic period and the first two waves of the pandemic," he said.

He said the province wasn't focused on recovery considered the second wave was just ending, the vaccine campaign was just starting and a third wave was on the way.

"As part of a whole-of-government response, we continue to work in partnership with public health officials, school divisions and schools. In addition, the department provided detailed guidance to the education sector, in consultation with provincial public health officials and the sector, and created a Response Planning Team to lead this work. This continues as public health orders evolved."

He said the provincial government has invested in education since the review period ended and the government plans on addressing the findings and recommendations from the audit.