Early years education in Manitoba is getting a financial boost.

Education Minister Wayne Ewasko announced that 1.6-million dollars is being invested to expand access to early years evaluations and digital assessment tools in English and French.

1-million dollars will go towards a partnership with the Learning Bar to implement the Early Years Evaluation assessment tool for interested school divisions, beginning this upcoming school year.

The remaining 600-thousand dollars will be part of a partnership with Pearson Clinical Assessment’s Digital Library, to help school divisions support the early identification of student learning needs.