| 1930 | Education of Soldiers' Dependent Children Commission is established to help students who were eligible to attend high school (by virtue of having passed high school entrance examinations), but who did not reside in school districts which operated high schools. These students were required to pay fees in order to attend municipal or city high schools. Children of war veterans, who were in financial need, could apply to the Commission for grants to offset the cost of the fees. The Commission was chaired by S. J. Willis, Superintendent of Education. Apprenticeships are regulated for the first time, when the Apprentice Council of Vancouver is created in 1930. The Council was loosely affiliated with the Vancouver School Board. Apprenticehips are regulated province-wide after the British Columbia Apprenticeship Act is passed in 1934. |
| 1933 | A Board of Reference is established to hear appeals from teachers who feel
that they have been unjustly dismissed from their posts by local school boards. |
| 1934 |
The Recreational and Physical Education Division is established to provide physical training and other educational leisure activities to unemployed youths. Ian Eisenhardt is appointed director of the Provincial Recreation Programme, an initiative popularly known as Pro-Rec. The Extension and Adult Education Division is established. Extra-mural courses and "Education of the Unemployed" are launched in cooperation with The University of British Columbia, the British Columbia Teachers' Federation, and other agencies. Community Self-Help Groups are organized in conjunction with the provincial Department of Labour, Vancouver Local Council of Women, and the University Women's Club. Georgina Ross is appointed Supervising Director: Community Self-Help Groups. Major H. B. King is appointed Technical Advisor to the Minister of Education, Dr. George M. Weir. The first steps are made in the process of consolidating small rural and assisted school districts with the creation of the Peace River Educational Administrative Area. This large regional unit subsumes over sixty single-school school districts. The consolidation scheme was conceived and implemented by School Inspector William A. Plenderleith.
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| 1935 | H. B. King submits his Report
on School Finance in British Columbia. Dr. King recommends the
elimination of local school boards and an extremely centralized administrative structure. His recommendations are
not adopted by the provincial government although Victoria is committed to a process of rationalizing some of the
many small school districts. The Matsqui-Sumas-Abbotsford Educational Administrative Area is created. This unit was created by amalgamating rural and assisted schools with a rural municipality school district. The Educational Administrative Areas Appointments Board is established within the Department of Education. J. L. Watson, is appointed secretary of the new board. The purpose of the board is to place teachers to schools in the recently established Peace River and Matsqui-Sumas-Abbotsford Educational Administrative Areas. |
| 1936 | A School
and Community Drama sub-section is established within the Adult
Education Division of the Department of Education. Llewelyn Bullock-Webster is appointed Organizer of School and
Community Drama.
The awarding of honour rolls for students who ranked first in deportment, punctuality and regularity, and
proficiency is discontinued.
School safety patrols -- i.e. traffic control and road crossing guards -- are introduced for the first time in Victoria. The patrols are organized by local members of the Kiawanis International community service club. Beginning in 1947, Kiawanis Clubs sponsor school patrols in urban districts throughout the province.
A vocational training centre is established in Nanaimo. The centre later becomes part of the British Columbia Vocational School. Vocational training centres, affiliated with the British Columbia Vocational School, are also opened in Burnaby and Prince George. |
| 1937 | The Coronation of King George VI is a major event in the school calendar. Early in January, the Department of Education decrees that "The preparation for the Coronation Ceremony should be treated as an integral part of the school programme in English, Music and Social Studies." The coronation is also integrated into the Art curriculum ("Drawing and colouring of the flags of the Empire") and in Physical Education classes ("...to include English folkdances, or dances of Scotland, Ireland or Wales"]. Seventeen students are sent to London to represent the province's high schools at the Coronation ceremony, held on May 12th. Dominion-Provincial Youth Training Agreement. This federal and provincial scheme is intended to encourage occupational training and, after 1939, to provide industrial training for war work. |
| 1938 |
New standardized report cards are introduced during the 1938-39 school year for provincial elementary schools, along with explanatory letters for parents. The report cards and accompanying letters are couched in the language of progressivism. Revised report cards for junior and senior high schools are introduced the following year.
Rural Elementary Teachers Association is founded.
The administration of Victoria School of Art taken over by Department of Education.
The school closed in 1942. |
| 1939 | Dr. H. B. King is appointed Chief Inspector of Schools and is responsible for the provincial schools inspectorate.
World War II. On 10 September 1939 Canada joins Great Britain and other dominions and declares war against Germany. |
