1990 The B.C. Home and School & Parent-Teacher Federation is dissolved and succeeded by the British Columbia Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils.

December: Jim Hewitt is reappointed Minister of Education.

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1991 April: Stan Hagen is appointed Minister of Education. November: Anita Hagen becomes Minister of Education.

The School Meals program is introduced, to provide children in urban schools with nutritious lunch-time meals.

  

1993 September: The Ministry of Education is restyled Ministry of Education, Skills, and Training.  The new ministry is responsible for all provincial education programmes, from kindergarten to Grade 12, and in the post-secondary sector (colleges and universities.)  Art Charbonneau is appointed minister.

 

1994 The Pacific Marine Training Institute is amalgamated with the British Columbia Institute of Technology to become BCIT's Pacific Marine Training Campus.

 

1995 The Institute of Indigenous Government opens in Vancouver, offering certificate and associate of arts degree courses.

September: A First Nations curriculum is introduced in provincial secondary schools. Designed as an elective course for Grade 12 students, the curriculum dealt with the traditions and history of British Columbia's aboriginal  people.

November: The government creates a Public Education Restructuring Consultation Committee, to consult with the public, educators, school boards and parents on a new school district structure for the province.  The Committee reports in April 1996.

 

1996 February - June: Paul Ramsey, a former community college instructor, serves as Minister of Education, Skills and Training.  Moe Sihota, a lawyer, holds the portfolio from 17 June to 12 December.  He is succeeded by Joy Macphail (12 December 1996 - 6 January 1997).

April: Reduction and restructuring of School Districts: Acting on the report of a consulting committee, the government reorganizes and amalgamates school districts, reducing the number from 75 to 57.

July: Royal Roads University, near Victoria, is officially opened on July 8.  The new university was formerly a military training college operated by the federal government.

The Public School Act [RSBC, c. 412] and the Independent School Act [RSBC, 216] are consolidated within the revised statutes of British Columbia with a common preamble indicating the goal and purpose of the British Columbia school system. The goal: "...the goal of a democratic society [is] to ensure that all its members receive an education that enables them to become personally fulfilled and publicly useful, thereby increasing the strength and contributions to the health and stability of that society." The purpose: "...the purpose of the British Columbia school system is to enable all learners to develop their individual potential and to acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to contribute to a healthy, democratic and pluralistic society and a prosperous and sustainable economy."

 
1997 January 7: Paul Ramsey is appointed as Minister of Education, Skills and Training, and continues as Minister of Education until September 1999.

September: The History of Education Homeroom website is created at Malaspina University-College to mark the 125th anniversary of public education in British Columbia.

The Technical University of British Columbia Act is proclaimed in December.  The campus of the new university - known as TechBC - is located in Surrey. TechBC will be absorbed by Simon Fraser University in February 2002.

 

1998 On 15 February 1998 the Ministry of Education, Skills and Training was disestablished and two separate ministries were established -- the Ministry of Education (responsible for the K - 12 sector) and the Ministry of Advanced Education, Training and Technology (responsible for post-secondary education).

  

1999 Gordon Wilson, a former college instructor and leader of the provincial Liberal Party, joins the New Democratic Party and is sworn in as Minister of Education on September 22.