It was announced today that an increase in funding for Manitoba schools is to be given by the provincial government. Education and training minister Ian Wishart made that announcement and says it's a record amount for our province.

"Funding for the K-12 system across the province will be given a one percent increase on top of what was made available last year," Wishart explains. "That's an overall increase of $13.2 million. And it gives us a record amount of funding across the province."

He explains this fulfills the conservatives' election campaign promise to improve literacy and numeracy results. Wishart adds they took advantage of the timing of I Love To Read month to make the announcement.

Wishart outlines how the allocation of funding operates. "School taxes are under control of the school divisions. But we are giving every school division more money using the existing funding formula. That formula actually makes adjustments depending on any past increases or decreases in their enrolments, or any assessment changes. So, there is some buffering in terms of the increase and some rewarding for those who have shown a lot of growth. But the school divisions themselves look at what we have given them compared to what their needs are, and they make their own determination as to whether or not they need to increase their school tax."

He adds the government's pleased to be able to put more money into our education system here in Manitoba. It's a priority for our government and they think it's important to build a strong a results-based and results-oriented education system.