The following is the statement made my Jenny Kwan, of government opposition…during a committee meeting regarding the Ministry of Education budget estimates…look toward the bottom of her statement…for mention of the need to increase school counselling in BC schools.

ESTIMATES: MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
Wednesday November 25, 2009
The House in Committee of Supply (Section A); H. Bloy in the chair.
The committee met at 2:42 p.m.

J. Kwan: I think that the minister and I would have to agree to disagree on the fact that the government funding for education is, in fact, insufficient. In fact, there is a huge funding shortfall in the education system, and the government can spin all they want about the per-pupil funding and so on, but the reality is that the funding is not keeping pace with the actual cost in the education system.
Talk to any school trustee, and they'll tell you that. I talk to my school trustee in the city of Vancouver regularly, and they tell me on a continual basis. This is not just from one political spectrum, in terms of the school trustees from Vancouver. Across the party political spectrum they say that, Mr. Chair. So I want to say that very clearly. I know that time is short, and I can engage in a full debate with the minister about the specifics of that, but I won't at this time.
I also want to just highlight for the minister as well, in terms of the issues that we face in the inner-city school, the Vancouver Inner City Education Society had written a submission to the trustees of Vancouver, and I think that this is valuable information for the minister to understand so that she gets a full sense of the differences in the different demands in inner-city schools versus that of the non-inner-city school situation.
They write, and they give an example about a non-inner-city child. This would be an example that they would highlight: "Went to daycare, preschool, summer camp; was involved in one or more community sport and cultural activities; has immediate and extended family support; attended the same school as their siblings; moved a maximum of two of elementary schools in their educational career; has food, shelter and safety assured on a daily basis."
Inner-city school child: "Was born in prison; did not attend any preschool, camp or early literacy programs; was sexually abused at age 3; witnessed murder at age 5; lived with crack-addicted parents through to age 7; has been enrolled in four schools and one special program for violent behaviour upon entering grade 3 in Vancouver; has no assurances of food, shelter or personal safety."
While these are extreme examples, they do illustrate the disparity between one more child enrolling in an inner-city school versus that of the non-inner-city school. This is not meant, I want to say very clearly, to pit one community versus that of another, but rather to highlight the differences and the challenges which inner-city schools face.
To that end, what are they asking for? They're asking for an increase in dedicated school psychologist testing time available for inner-city school kids, as the more expediently a student's needs can be identified, the more efficiently a student's individual program can be developed and commenced, which significantly increases his or her chance of success."
They also request "the amount of area counsellor time be increased in all inner-city project schools to a minimum...allotment of .5 FTEs to increase the level of support for children and families facing ever more complex challenges." They are also requesting an increase in counselling time in secondary schools.