Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to announce the completion of a document called Towards Excellence. This document includes information that can be used by parents, educators and departmental staff to determine where the Kindergarten to Grade 12 system is doing well, and which areas need improvement. Although the final printing will not be done for a few weeks, I have given advance copies to Members of this Assembly.
Towards Excellence covers 30 indicators. Included are, for example, types of programs offered in communities, the amount of money spent on education, qualifications of educators and the Grade 12 graduation rate. The information in the document is from the 1994-95 school year. The data in this report will provide a baseline against which the progress of our school system will be measured.
A second document, to be released later this year, will update the indicators to the 1996-97 school year and will include additional indicators of student achievement. Education, Culture and Employment is committed to publishing regular updates of Towards Excellence every second year. Similar reports will be published on post-secondary education.