LAKELAND - The local Francophone school division will not be piloting the Government of Alberta's draft K-6 curriculum.
The decision has been made amid continued concerns being expressed across the province regarding content in the draft curriculum, along with a lack of engagement being felt. The draft curriculum was originally released in late March.
On April 13, the Conseil scolaire Centre-Est (CSCE) released a statement saying it had decided not to participate in piloting the K-6 curriculum for the 2021-22 school year.
The school division, which has schools located in Bonnyville, Cold Lake, Lac La Biche, Plamondon and St. Paul, expressed concerns around a lack of content in the proposed curriculum, specifically around Francophone culture and historic contributions by the Francophone community.
The division stated it feels it is unreasonable to pilot the curriculum at this time.
CSCE board chair Réginald Roy said the division will not ask teachers or students to take part in the pilot following an overwhelming year caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. He added there are also gaps in the draft curriculum, specifically in social studies.
Roy does not believe the curriculum is ready to be piloted, and he says it is incomplete.
The decision came after the school division took time to speak with experts, who have proposed changes to bring forward to the Minister of Education.
Roy spoke with LakelandToday last week, stating at that time the division was unsure if it would pilot the curriculum.
On April 10, St. Paul Education announced it would not be piloting the curriculum in its schools in the 2021-22 school years. The school division serves schools throughout the County of St. Paul and in the Town of St. Paul, along with schools in the Two Hills area.
See below for the original statement from the CSCE.
The Francophone school division announced on April 13 that it would not pilot the new Government of Alberta K-6 curriculum.
