Albertans rally in support of Alberta’s public education

Rally signs held by teachers, parents, and administrators all gathered in frigid temperatures on Saturday, demanding better standards for public education in Alberta.

Even some students showed up and were demanding to see a brighter future for the students and teachers of Alberta.

“We’re standing up for teachers, I’m standing up for my fellow students,” said Anna Li, a grade 7 student.

The UCP government has received mounting criticism over the new proposed K-6 draft curriculum and the number of resources and funding provided to public education.

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“I would like to see this UCP curriculum be put into the dumpster where it belongs,” said Li. “Not even in the recycling bin, because it’s not worth recycling. It is antiquated, it is racist, and it is inappropriate.”

Other raising concerns about missing topics in the curriculum.

“It almost completely ignores the existence of 2SLGBTW+ people. There is only one mention in the thousands of pages of the curriculum, in any subject,” said John Williamson, a teacher in the Calgary Catholic School District.

“We want increased funding, we want smaller class sizes, we want safe classrooms, we want investments in our infrastructure,” said Medeana Moussa, the Executive Director of Support Our Students Alberta.

After more than 40 years, the government of the Northwest Territories confirmed it will no longer be using Alberta’s curriculum in its schools. They will now be adopting B.C.’s curriculum.

READ MORE:

Northwest Territories to use B.C. school curriculum instead of Alberta’s

“As an Albertan, it is incredibly embarrassing,” said Li. “We’ve taken a world-class education system and we’ve turned it into a laughingstock. If it is not good enough for the children in the Northwest Territories, there is absolutely no reason we should be feeding it to our children here.”

Alberta’s ministry of education has told CityNews:

“While it is unfortunate that their final decision was made prior to the finalization of the draft K-6 curriculum, we understand their decision to move quickly and partner with a province that has a finalized and implemented K-12 curriculum that is currently being taught in classrooms.”

The province has said it plans to bring forward a new draft of the controversial K-6 social studies program by Spring 2022 — other parts of the curriculum will be phased in starting next fall.