Merci, Monsieur le President. In August 2023, grade 4 to 6 and grade 9 classes in all NWT schools will be transitioning from the Alberta curriculum of studies to the BC system. All other school grades will transition in subsequent years.
While ECE officials have been working on this for years, teachers working directly with students have not. The word I've received is that teachers are not ready to make this transition because the basic groundwork has not been done. I've been told that ECE put together a number of working groups to adapt the BC curriculum to an NWT perspective, and that is very important work. However, most of these groups have not yet finished their work and teachers have had no updates on their progress. The assessment working group did not even start meeting until February and to date, there has been no communication on its recommendations.
The South Slave actually hired an outside consultant to create a new reporting system but in Yellowknife, there has been no such guidance. It's not the content of the new curriculum that is a source of stress, Mr. Speaker. The problems arise with assessment, reporting, and changing classroom practices to address competencies rather than outcomes.
Our teachers pride themselves on being well informed, ready to teach, and able to deliver their programs and communicate confidently with students and parents. While teachers are working to prepare for the fall, they have been allowed little time to prepare and adjust to the new curriculum which isn't even finished yet. I am told that minimal time for the transition has been granted, largely at the expense of other important initiatives within schools and the department.
We need to trust our professional frontline educators when they tell us that what can be a good idea is being rolled out badly or too quickly. The department has asserted the need to shift to a different curriculum to give NWT students a better and more relevant education, and I agree with that, but let's get it right. I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment on the transition to the BC school curriculum later today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.
