Submitted by Chair Amanda Amaral
April 9, 2025
We hope you all had an opportunity for deep rest, restoration, and rejuvenation.
Reflecting on the first year of our five-year strategic plan, I am reminded of the importance of education as a fundamental human right, and how our mission, vision, affirmation, and values reinforce this belief.
In Reimagining Our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education (UNESCO, 2021), it is stated, “If the school did not exist, we would need to invent it,” recognizing the essential role schools play in maintaining a healthy society. Public education is a statement of our commitment to the well-being of our communities, our province, our country, and our shared planet.
As we look around, we are confronted with complex challenges. UNESCO (2021) eloquently describes these as a planet in peril, democratic backsliding, growing polarization, and the uncertain future of work. Education, now more than ever, is and will remain an essential tool in preparing us to transform and adapt to the new world we are inheriting. However, we cannot continue with the same approaches to education and expect new solutions or outcomes. We must vigorously defend education as a basic human right and radically transform how we educate to meet these challenges—with a mindset grounded in humanity and abundance.
Our strategic plan, with its single aspirational learning goal and nine strands of learning, is designed to be flexible and strong enough to evolve with these needs. It responds to the call to reimagine education and uphold the right to quality education for all.
Amanda Amaral
Chair