It was announced last spring by the province that a review of college education would be made to identify opportunities to strengthen the system, improve outcome for students, and focus programming on skills needed in Manitoba's labour market. Education minister Ian Wishart presented that review today and says it's the first one in ten years.

He outlines some specific recommendations that will be implemented in the coming months:

"Increasing participation rates and graduation rates for all students, a performance-based funding formula, a college-specific mandate letter, increasing rural and regional coordination to meet local needs, streamlining the program approval process, introducing an external quality assurance mechanism, and focusing capital funding priorities to make strategic improvements," explains Wishart.

Wishart says the five post-secondary education colleges who will also receive specific recommendations include Assiniboine Community College, Manitoba Institutes of Trades and Technology, Red River College, Université de Saint-Boniface, and the University College of the North.

"We wanted to find out if Manitoba's post-secondary education system is aligned with labour market needs, so we can feel confident that we are competitive and a growing jurisdiction," continues Wishart. "We also wanted to find out if there was demonstrated value in the investments being made, and if college's have enough flexibility to implement programming that fits industry requirements."

He says, "This review looked areas such a governance, efficiency, programming (including relevance to the labour market), financial management, system coordination and client services in the college education system. When we received the results and recommendations of the review, we were very pleased to learn that many are in line with our government's existing strategic direction. However, we also identified opportunities to enhance and modernize

Wishart adds these kinds of institutional and system reviews give the chance for the province to reflect on the current state of things and identity areas where they can make improvements. He says the Manitoba college review provides a road map to build on where they can enhance the student experience and strengthen partnerships with industry.

The review cost $207,000, and a large focus was to raise graduation participation rates of indigenous people up 20%.