Art offered at just 2 of 9 intermediate schools

Last year three of P.E.I.'s nine intermediateschools offered separate art classes, but a retiring art teacher means theywill only be offered at two this year.

The art teacher at Charlottetown's Queen Charlotte Intermediate School retired in June, and now art is no longer being offered as a separate subject.

The Department of Education says only East Wiltshire and Stonepark now offer art classes. Some intermediate schools have never had them and some have not had them for years.

The numbers provided by the department apply to P.E.I.'s namedintermediate schools. CBC News asked for information about consolidated schools,but that information wasn't provided.

Parker Grimmer, director of the public schools branch for the province, told CBC News art is a priority for junior high students, and that students are being exposed to it in other classes.

"It's something that our teachers are trained for, and that their curriculum leaders within the Department of Education are planning for," said Grimmer.

"Inside those curricular areas those integrated curricular areas like language arts, math, science, social studies - there are lesson plans, there are directions, there are ideas for planning that include art integration."

Grimmer said exploratory program subjects are required to make up a certain amount of instructional time, but what those subjects are is variable. Exploratory programs include music, industrial arts, and cooking, as well art.

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