Alberta government to release more details on education curriculum review
Posted Aug 6, 2020 7:33 am.
Last Updated Aug 6, 2020 7:34 am.
EDMONTON (660 NEWS) – The United Conservatives will provide more details on what’s next for the province’s education curriculum.
Last August, The UCP launched a panel to review changes to the curriculum introduced by the previous NDP government.
During the election campaign in 2019, Premier Jason Kenney vowed to overhaul the curriculum over what he called an ideological and socialist rewrite at the hands of the NDP.
He said he wants politics out of the classroom.
“We will consult with parents and experts and parents are experts, by the way, to develop a modern curriculum that is focused on essential knowledge and skills instead of political agendas and failed teaching fads.”
Kenney specifically pointed to social studies and social sciences which he said brought in those political agendas.
WATCH: Alberta’s curriculum review given to education minister, but not released to public
In January the review panel recommended the Alberta government stick to the basics and emphasize standardized testing.
The province is also looking at changes to the social studies curriculum to provide a balanced approach to issues of climate change and Alberta’s natural resource sector.
It’s also recommended subjects like the holocaust and sex education be taught at age-appropriate levels.
When the review panel was launched, Kenney claimed Alberta students were failing in areas like math, reading and numeracy which the Alberta Teachers Association disagreed with.
“Hard to speculate what Mr. Kenney is looking at when he talks about literacy and numeracy rates being down, and what he is suggesting might be within the social studies curriculum that he doesn’t like.,” said President Jason Schilling. “I want to be able to see what he’s looking at first before making a really clear opinion about it.”
The Opposition NDP has also been critical of the curriculum review rejecting claims by the UCP that the original changes were “secretive” and called the review a “drive-by shooting on our curriculum and our kid’s education.”
Education Minister Adriana LaGrange will provide the update Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m.
