On September 6, the BC Ministry of Education and Child Care invited SelfDesign Learning Community to continue the process to become a provincial online learning school (POLS).
“We are thrilled,” says SelfDesign Chief Learning Officer Nikki Kenyon, who spearheaded the preparation of SelfDesign’s submission to the Ministry to be considered one of the new school hubs. “As an independent POLS, SelfDesign will be able to continue to support learners and families across B.C. with the high-quality program we have been delivering for the past 20 years.”
Starting in the 2023/24 learning year, new provincial guidelines for online education will require that schools providing services to learners across the province must be one of the Ministry-designated provincial online learning schools. Without the designation, online schools will be restricted to working only with learners from within set geographical areas.
Independent online schools were invited to submit expressions of interest in June, with the process mirroring that for public online schools.
“With last week’s acknowledgement, we can collectively exhale and look forward to learning more about how we will partner with the Ministry as an independent POLS,” Nikki says.
The Ministry is expected to formally announce the independent provincial online learning schools in January.
More information about provincial online learning schools can be found on the Ministry’s online learning website.
