Manitoba exploring more online learning as part of education changes

The Manitoba government is trying for a second time to reform education in the province, but this time without planning to eliminate elected school boards.

The Progressive Conservative government faced widespread public opposition last year when it announced plans to wipe out all elected English-language school boards, and eventually backed down.

The government is going ahead with some of the other reforms it had planned, including setting up a new regulatory body that could certify teachers.

The province also says it aims to develop new ways to assess students in early school years, and to change report cards to be more inclusive of students with special needs.

The government is also looking at developing a new attendance policy that would take into account barriers such as poverty.

It is also planning to expand remote learning possibilities to include an online high school.