The province's Department of Education and Early Childhood Learning is receiving some kudos for how they worked through the pandemic.

Auditor General Tyson Shtykalo said last week they may not have been prepared at the time, but the department did a great job leading the Kindergarten to Grade 12 school system through it all.

Portage la Prairie MLA Ian Wishart weighs in and gives some insight from the province on the accolades.

"The Auditor General did some evaluation on how, in this case in particular, the school divisions were able to handle the outbreak of COVID-19, and he was fairly positive," says Wishart. "We know from school results that they actually handled the infection with their various different approaches -- keeping them in cohorts, distancing, masking and ventilation changes -- they made a lot of on-the-go changes. They handled the outbreak of COVID-19 very well and he was very supportive of their response to that. And this is very positive."

He explains not very many institutions of any type of provincial, federal, or even local, were quite ready for the COVID-19 outbreak in every sense of the word.

"They adapted well and did a great job dealing with it and minimizing the impact of it," adds Wishart. "You can never make the impact zero, but you can certainly do your best to keep it to a minimum."

Wishart notes the strong point that the divisions made evident was their ability to make ongoing changes in management as they were learning.

"I think that would be one of the areas where they shone very well in terms of their response. We certainly did learn a lot of things as we went through the whole COVID process," continues Wishart. "As you know, we learn more about the organism that we were dealing with and how best to control it. They had adapted as we learned more. I think that's one of the brighter spots in the whole thing. It certainly taught us an awful lot about how we lived and what changes we might have to make in the future."