Public Education
Students are the future of our province, and investing in them means investing in Alberta’s economy. Due to gross underfunding and inefficiencies in K-12 and post-secondary education, our students are not reaching their full potential.
The Green Party of Alberta will tear down barriers and ensure a strong economy for many generations to come by improving the public education system and providing tuition-free post-secondary education.
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Eliminate tuition fees at public colleges and universities
- Eliminate a significant barrier for students to pursue higher education by eliminating tuition fees
- Make a sound investment in Albertans by supporting retraining, research and innovation, and addressing skilled labour shortages
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Introduce a Basic Income for students and their families
- Address the disparity in access for low-income families or those belonging to oppressed communities by providing a basic income benefit to students and their families
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Reduce class sizes
- Mandate no more then twenty students per teacher and educational assistant, allowing students to receive more individual attention and support
- Reduce the workload of teachers, educational assistants, and teachers, leading to improved job satisfaction and better retention of staff
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Cooperate with unions in the education sector to improve working conditions
- End the hostile approach of the UCP towards teachers and educational staff
- Work with unions to improve the safety and satisfaction workers have within the education sector
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Scrap the UCP curriculum and replace it with an evidenced-based, inclusive curriculum
- End the failed experiment of the UCP's curriculum, near universally panned by educators and experts for its potential to permanently impair the education and development of Alberta students
- Develop a new curriculum based on the input of subject-matter experts and stakeholders, free from influence of those with biased agendas
- Integrate, in accordance with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action, perspectives and history of Indigenous peoples in Alberta
- Focus on an iterative process, repeatedly collecting feedback to revise and improve the curriculum
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End funding for private schools
- Phase out funding for private schools over 5 years, returning savings eventually exceeding $200-million to the public school system
- Private schools will be permitted to operate without public funding
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Merge school boards into one system
- Enact policy to merge all Catholic and public school boards together to create one inclusive and diverse public school system
- Eliminate duplication of services and reduce administrative costs, saving up to $600-million annually, which can be reinvested into the public education system
- Catholic schools can continue to operate outside the public system without public funding, in line with other provinces such as Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador