The Northwest Territories has announced it will phase out Alberta’s curriculum and replace it with B.C.’s Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 (JK-12) school curriculum.
In March, reports were circulating that the N.W.T were exploring other curriculums from other provinces, as the agreement with Alberta was close to expiring.
In a news release issued Thursday, N.W.T officials announced it was making the change after more than 40 consultation and engagement sessions with Indigenous governments, education bodies, the Northwest Territories Teachers’ Association (NWTTA) and educators.
I’m excited to announce the NWT’s new curriculum partnership with British Columbia. I am confident that this is the correct path forward for our NWT JK-12 curriculum and the future of our young residents. More info https://t.co/Svd53Vsulv
— R.J. Simpson (@RJSimpson_NWT) December 16, 2021
“A modern curriculum that meets the needs of NWT learners is essential to providing the best education possible to all residents, which is why I’m excited to announce our partnership with British Columbia,” said R.J. Simpson, N.W.T. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
“British Columbia’s redesigned curriculum aims to personalize learning, making it more student-centred and flexible. With an emphasis on Indigenous knowledge and a focus on literacy and numeracy skills, I am confident that this curriculum will benefit all of the N.W.T’s JK-12 students.”
The N.W.T’s Department of Education began researching the curriculum of Western Canadian provinces in 2019 and determined that B.C.’s curriculum was most aligned with 34 longstanding N.W.T education priorities.
The Alberta government says the N.W.T decision is unfortunate given it was made before the finalization of the draft K-6 curriculum.
“We understand their decision to move quickly and partner with a province that has a finalized and implemented K-12 curriculum that is currently being taught in classrooms, like British Columbia. In contrast, Alberta is still in the early stages of the K-12 curriculum renewal process,” Alberta Education spokesperson Nicole Sparrow said in an email statement.
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“While we have been happy to partner with the NWT in the past, Alberta’s government is focused on ensuring Alberta’s students can soon learn from a modern curriculum that prepares them for success. We will continue to listen to all Albertans, including education stakeholders and Indigenous communities to ensure we have the best possible curriculum for our students once the content is finalized and implemented.”
The NDP said the N.W.T have been using Alberta’s curriculum for nearly 40 years and this decision is an “embarrassing blow” to the province’s reputation.
“We tried to warn the UCP that this was a possibility nine months ago, hoping they would draft a better curriculum that we could all be proud of, including educators and parents in the Northwest Territories. They didn’t. They chose to continue to ignore the concerns of Albertans,” NDP Education Critic Sarah Hoffman in a statement.
The N.W.T plans to phase in the new curriculum over several years.
