TORONTO – TVO plays a critical role in helping children and their parents prepare for the Ontario school system.
In an address to the Canadian Ethnic Media Association in Toronto on Thursday night, CEO Lisa de Wilde said that teaching parents how to navigate the Ontario school system is a vital component of a “toolkit” that they can use to support their kids throughout their education.
“This is important for all parents but particularly for those who didn’t themselves go to school in Ontario”, de Wilde said. “There are 200,000 new Canadians arriving in Ontario every year – many come from countries with public school systems that are vastly different from ours. In the Toronto District School Board, just 20% of students have both parents born in Canada. So there’s a tremendous opportunity for an organization like TVO to help acclimatize parents to Ontario’s education system. And that opportunity keeps growing.”
She also described the multi-step process that the provincial broadcaster’s children’s content must go through to ensure it meets the educational objectives of the Ontario school curriculum.
"All TVO produced children’s content is built from the ground up with educational expectations at their core – this is what makes our resources different from any other children’s broadcaster”, de Wilde continued. “We stake our reputation on being a well-respected and trusted education partner with kids, parents and educators. This confidence comes from knowing that all of our content goes through a rigorous process with involvement from teachers, parents and educational experts. In fact, we have an on-staff educator who helps guide the content development process."
