Another school year has started and across our province, hundreds of thousands of students will return to our schools. As Alberta鈥檚 new Minister of Education, I want to give you an update about some of the things we鈥檙e doing to ensure a successful start to the school year.
I firmly believe that the upcoming school year will give students the tools and resources they need to succeed.
Here are some of the things that we are working on:
Firstly, we are injecting new funding to start the school year off on the right foot. For the current school year, Alberta鈥檚 government has increased funding to many of our school divisions to make sure they have the financial resources they need to give our kids a world-class education. Funding has increased by 7% from last year increasing the total amount of taxpayer dollars going directly to our school divisions to $7.4 billion.
Secondly, we are hiring more teachers and staff in our classrooms. As students head back to class, they may start to see new friendly faces in their school. Budget 2023 provided new funding to hire up to 3,000 new educational staff over three years, including teachers, educational assistants, bus drivers and other school support staff such as speech language pathologists and psychologists. Ensuring students have the supports they need to succeed in and out of the classroom is a top priority of mine.
Thirdly, we are continuing our work to improve student mental health. Alberta鈥檚 government is supporting almost 80 mental health pilot projects across the province, with an investment of $50 million. These projects will encourage student well-being through new and innovative approaches to providing supports and services like counselling, social and emotional learning, student assessment and training for school staff.
Lastly, we will continue to lead the country in early literacy and numeracy assessments. As a father of two, I want to know how my girls are progressing in their academic journey and I know many of you want the same. In September of 2022, Alberta鈥檚 government implemented new mandatory literacy and numeracy screening for all students in Grades 1 鈥� 3. These assessments will help identify students who are struggling with literacy and numeracy skill development and inform teacher intervention lesson plans and techniques to improve student skills. Based on school reporting, these interventions are working. I am very proud of the work that is being done here. Please know Alberta is leading the country with this type of early assessment and screening and will continue to foster new and improved ways to improve the education system.
In closing, I want to thank and acknowledge all our hardworking teachers, educational assistants, principals, and other school support staff. The work that you do is deeply acknowledged and appreciated by Alberta鈥檚 government and I want to express my personal appreciation for your work. I look forward to serving as our province鈥檚 Minister of Education for our great province and am confident we can continue to provide every student with a world-class education.
Demetrios Nicolaides,
Minister of Education
