With the 2023-24 school year set to soon get underway, Alberta students of all ages, their parents and guardians, teachers, staff and administrators can rightly look forward to once again being part of one of Canada’s finest education systems.
At the local level, work is well underway at both Chinook’s Edge School Division and Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools for the reopening of regional classrooms in September.
And as in past years, the success of the 2023-24 school year will depend a great deal on whether the provincial government and educators can work together to meet the challenges facing the education system.
Successful cooperation would be good for students in this region and across the province – on the other hand, a failure of cooperation would benefit no one.
For her part, Premier Danielle Smith outlined her expectations for the new school year in a July 25 mandate letter to Minister of Education Demetrios Nicolaides.
Among the key tasks the premier has set for the minister is to “expand prevention and early intervention mental health support for children and youth that are integrated within schools and communities.”
Other tasks include developing more teacher training for career and technology studies, launching a high school-targeted advertising campaign to promote high-demand careers, and reviewing the role of parent school councils and working with educators to explore ways parents can have more input.
The Alberta government is “committed to improving education in our province,” said Nicolaides.
Jason Schilling is the president of the Alberta Teachers' Association, which represents 43,000 educators.
“The issue of teachers shortages is closely linked to matters of classroom conditions, and we expect to have conversations with government to find solutions,” said Schilling. “The association also anticipates discussing such systemic needs as classroom size and complexity.”
With a new provincial government in place and the new school year set to get underway, hopes are high that the challenges facing Alberta schools can be met and overcome in the coming days.
Dan Singleton is an editor with the Albertan.
