Details of new Education Act released

Parents and students can now see Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk’s new 10-point action plan for schools across the province.

The plan, released Jan. 10, calls for more opportunities for students to earn more high school and post-secondary credits while in school, will be formally introduced during the spring sitting of the Legislature.

The plan was drafted after collecting the opinions of thousands of parents, teachers, students and educational support staff. Data was collected through forums, social media, e-mails, mail, phone interviews and Alberta Education’s website.

“Our intent for the consultation was to hear from those who may not have had an opportunity to share their vision for the Alberta education system. I want to extend my appreciation and a personal thank you to everyone who participated,” said Lukaszuk.

“The feedback from parents, students and teachers leaves me no doubt that this review was the right thing to do.”

Forums held between Nov. 26 and Dec. 9 saw 1,130 attendees give opinions to Lukaszuk.

“Parents, teachers, students and others have given me two types of advice: philosophical approaches that are best addressed in legislation and practical solutions to the challenges students face every day,” said Lukaszuk. “Legislation will come forward in the spring, and work on practical steps will begin immediately.”

However, the ideas aren’t all good according to one local politician.

“I didn’t see anything that’s going to improve the education system,” said Rob Anderson, Airdrie-Chestermere MLA and education critic. “How about instead of equipping buses with WiFi, let’s make sure we have enough schools and teachers.”

Dave Morris, associate superintendent of learning for Rocky View Schools sided with Anderson.

“We have really good wireless accessibility (in RVS),” said Morris, associate superintendent of learning.

“I’d like to see the schools receive that ability before trips and travel.”

Overall, Morris is “supportive of the direction they’re trying to go.”

The idea of reviewing provincial achievement tests’ legitimacy is valid, said Anderson.

“I believe in testing our students but I’m not convinced that the current PATs are very useful,” he said.

“I’d like them to study some alternatives.”

The new Education Act’s priorities include:

• Reducing travel time for students who spend more than one hour on a bus and enabling students to better use technology when they travel;

• Creating more opportunities for students to earn credits in high school and post-secondary at the same time;

• Updating school design specifications to better support communities;

• Co-ordinating building playgrounds and new schools;

• Reducing the administrative burden for charter schools;

• Supporting First Nations students by working more closely with the federal government;

• Creating a stronger voice for parents in the education system;

• Providing better information to increase the transparency, clarity and accountability of the education system;

• Reviewing provincial achievement tests;

• Examining the operational requirements of full-day kindergarten.