Education Minister Cliff Cullen says the pandemic has created challenging times but he says everyone in the education system has gone the extra mile to make things work.

As the spring legislative session drew to a close, the Manitoba government remained focused on protecting Manitobans and the services they depend on through the COVID-19 pandemic, and creating a path for a sustained economic growth and recovery.

“We had a tremendous amount of legislation that did get passed so certainly positive from that front and we also got the budget passed as well.”

The spring session of the 42nd legislature saw over 65 government bills passing, including Budget 2021.

“Covid is going to be with us for sometime so we certainly have budget this year for covid related expenses and not just in education but across the board. It’s hard to say when we will get out of this and expenses will continue and time will tell when we can get out of this” said Cullen.

He adds the key is to get out and get vaccinated.

“My hats off to everyone for working through the past 15 months. Covid has added some extra challenges and I’m really impressed with how everyone has stepped up to deal with it. We’ve tried to keep kids in school as much as possible when it’s safe to do so and hats off to everyone for making that happen.”