Without much detail, high school students in Manitoba were told last week Friday that they wouldn't be writing the provincial English exam the following Monday as planned. 
    
Grant Jackson, the Opposition PC MLA for Spruce Woods, raised the issue during Question Period in the Legislature Monday afternoon.

"In February, with no notice, the Deputy Minister of Education cancelled provincial exams and then a few short days later the Minister of Education reversed that decision. Now, with very little notice, again, before assessments were supposed to begin, the Minister has pulled the rug out from underneath teachers giving them no time to readjust. The question is simple - how long as the Minister known that grade 12 English exams would be cancelled this year?"

Education and Early Childhood Learning minister, Nello Altomare, offered this response.

"This past Friday afternoon, provincial officials in my department made the decision to simply just postpone the exam," clarified the Minister. "They did that out of an abundance of caution regarding identification of certain Manitobans that was used in the reading material for the exam. So, in order to protect their privacy, Honourable Speaker, we did the right thing."

Altomare added, all Grade 12 students in Manitoba will write the provincial ELA exam by June 21st of this school year.