Alberta to introduce new curriculum for French, science next school year

French, science curriculum to start next school year The province released more details on Friday of the implementation of its new curriculum. Amanda Anderson reports.

Alberta schools will use new curricula for a number of subjects in September, the provincial government announced on Friday.

Students from kindergarten to Grade 3 will be taught new French first language and literature, French immersion language arts and literature, and science programming.

School authorities have the option to apply the new curriculum for these subjects in Grades 4 to 6, the government added.

"To ensure successful implementation, we are making significant investments to provide teachers with the resources they need to support students in transitioning to the new curriculum," Education Minister Adriana LaGrange said.

The province will invest around $47 million on resources for students and teachers to support them through the implementation.

This school year, 941 teachers and 22,000 students across 47 school boards piloted the draft curriculum.

"They wanted the curriculum, the new curriculum in the hands of teachers sooner and last year we were able to put it out in April," LaGrange told reporters. "That's why we wanted to get it out in March this year, so they have that additional time to work with it."

"My understanding is it is going quite well, I’m sure that there are on occasion areas where it could be improved and we continually look to improve that."

CURRICULUM TIMELINE

Students in Grades 4 to 6 will also be taught the new curriculum for English and math this fall after it was delayed by a year.

In 2021, the education minister pushed back the new curriculum for social studies, fine arts and science — the subjects that faced the most criticism.

The Alberta Teachers' Association has been concerned about the rollout of the new curriculum, often saying teachers don't support it or don't have time to prepare for it due to an "already stressed system."

"The curriculum implementation currently under way has been rushed and, as a result, is not going well," ATA President Jason Schilling said in a release on Friday. "Rather than addressing those needs, the government wants to further increase the burden on our schools by introducing new curriculum to even more grades and subject areas in an already stressed environment.”

The NDP called the curriculum implementation a "gong show" on Friday.

"While there are parts of it that we think we may be able to salvage, the government has got it wrong and should not be moving ahead with any new curriculum," said Sarah Hoffman, the opposition's education critic.