EDMONTON — Alberta Education on Saturday launched a series of public consultations on the future of the decades-old School Act, which is expected to be revamped through a bill Minister Thomas Lukaszuk said would again be introduced in the legislature this spring.
More than 200 people, including teachers and students, gathered in Edmonton to discuss the direction of the new Education Act, which will be introduced under Bill 18 — a bill that has already been under consultation for years, with feedback from a reported 20,000 Albertans. It was initially tabled last spring.
But Lukaszuk on Saturday defended the upcoming consultation sessions and online feedback campaign, saying previous consultations reached out to “traditional stakeholders” and that he wanted to hear from all Albertans.
“To delay a piece of legislation that will be governing our education for the next 20 years....To delay it by four to six months and then to have the satisfaction to have known we have truly talked to all Albertans, given an opportunity to all Albertans, is really no sacrifice.”
But critics have noted a possible 2012 spring election could delay the tabling of Bill 18, potentially wasting years of consultation that have already taken place.
The School Act was passed in 1988, the year Lukaszuk said he graduated from high school. Times have changed, he said, and the act must be revamped to reflect some of those changes.
The current act is a high-level document that outlines responsibilities for teachers, students, the Education Minister and school boards. It includes such guidelines as at what age Alberta children become eligible to enter the provincial education system, and ministerial responsibilities, such as setting out minimum instruction hours that a school board must make available to a student each year.
Lukaszuk said the current Bill 18 expands the autonomy of school boards. The bill could lay out on which issues local school boards can or cannot pass policies.
The current Bill 18 also addresses bullying and makes clear that schools have the power to suspend or expel bullies, whether the bullying takes place in a school hallway or in online social networks.
“It’s in Bill 18 but I want to hear from parents and teachers, is it worded properly and is it enforceable?” Lukaszuk said. “I want to hear from experts and from Albertans, to see if it’s captured properly.”
One of the participants at Saturday’s consultation was Grade 12 student Neetu Masih, who attends Holy Trinity Catholic High School. Masih said she wants Alberta’s education system to ensure the inclusion of students with disabilities is enhanced and promoted. She wants to see those students interacting with other students and not separated into other classrooms.
“Inclusion is being promoted at my school but there are still some kids that aren’t aware of inclusion and haven’t accepted it yet.”
Other participants included teacher Cheryl Makokis, who teaches at the Kitaskinaw School in Enoch, who said she wants to see efforts made to ensure 100 per cent of aboriginal students graduate. Rachel Posch, an educator with the John Howard Society, said the education system needs to be structured to meet the needs of all students, regardless of their abilities or disabilities.
“We have such a huge problem with adult literacy that there must be something that we’re not doing right at the primary and secondary level.”
Lukaszuk said he was also sending letters to every student in Alberta to get their input on what changes they would suggest for the education system. He said ministry staff will have time to consider all the responses for the bill slated for the spring legislature because the draft of Bill 18 is already strong.
“We’re not starting (from scratch), we’re starting with a piece of legislation that took years to draft already, so what we’re doing is we’re refining it and making sure that everything is captured in the bill.”
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