WINNIPEG -- Manitoba has launched a new resource to help students, teachers, and families dealing with the challenges of remote learning.

The Manitoba Remote Learning Support Centre provides system-wide support that focuses on students that are learning from home, prioritizing smaller divisions that may have limited capacity, as well as students registered for homeschooling during the pandemic.

“The goal is to ensure all students have access to and engage in high-quality learning,” said Donna Davidson with Manitoba Education’s COVID-19 response team.

“The desire is to provide continuity in this learning in the platform of remote (learning) and to reach out to all parts of the province.”

Currently, more than 100 staff are working with the Manitoba Remote Learning Support Centre, which offers a variety of resources, most of which can be accessed through an online portal.

These resources include:

  • A remote learning support team to oversee the development of learning resources, facilitate professional learning, and offer job-embedded coaching for those who are teaching remotely;
  • An expanded Kindergarten to Grade 8 remote learning option with certified teachers, which can be requested by school divisions;
  • A new remote learning framework;
  • A repository of on-demand accessible learning resources;
  • A professional learning hub focused on remote learning;
  • Homeschool connectors, such as certified teachers and educational assistants; and
  • A student support team for those who may need mental health supports.

“We also have a clinical support team that is providing mental health supports to teachers, families, and students,” Davidson said.

“We just launched the team in January, so they have been reaching out and providing resources.”

Davidson noted that since the start of the pandemic, school divisions have been working diligently to provide remote learning options, but the centre provides another channel for support.

“This is just another layer, another avenue for families to pursue, especially when we look at the homeschool connectors,” she said.

“We have a number of families who have chosen to homeschool because of the COVID-19 pandemic and so this support will also provide additional resources for parents who are choosing homeschooling.”

Davidson said the main thing people have asked for is specific resources to help with remote learning.

The centre is operated in partnership with Manitoba Education, the St. James-Assiniboia and Pembina Trails School Divisions, and representatives from metro, rural and northern divisions.

- With files from CTV’s Rachel Lagace.