By Charles Lefebvre

United Conservative Party releases education platform

Mar 25, 2019 | 3:37 PM

CALGARY, AB —The United Conservative Party has released its education platform.

UCP leader Jason Kenney announced the 14 point education platform on Monday at the Calgary Jewish Academy.

If elected, the party will “maintain or increase education funding, while seeking greater efficiency,” which would be accomplished by “reducing administrative overhead,” and “pushing resources to front line teachers,” according to the platform.

It would also pause the current curriculum rewrite for the province and make changes to student assessment.

“As math scores plunge and report cards become increasingly difficult to understand, a United Conservative government will reset the curriculum rewrite, restore fundamentals to math and affirm the primary role of parents in choosing how their children are taught,” Kenney said in a statement. “It’s time to bring common sense to education.”

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The party says if elected, they would bring back the Grade 3 Provincial Assessment Test, and will also create a new ministerial order to focus on “teaching essential knowledge to help students develop foundational competencies.”

As for the curriculum, the UCP says it would broaden consultations on the curriculum to make them more open and transparent, and include a wide range of perspectives, including parents, teachers and subject matter experts.

The party also says it would continue building new schools, but would also order an audit of class sizes to find out what happened to previous funding dedicated to class size reduction.

If elected, the UCP would also proclaim the Education Act, passed by the provincial government in 2014. It would take effect September 1, 2019.

“A UCP government will trust the hard work done by those who created the 2014 Education Act, and proclaim that legislation, already passed by the Legislature,” a statement from the party reads. “Unlike the NDP’s curriculum review, conducted largely in secret, the 2014 Education Act resulted from years of widespread public consultation.

The full platform can be read here.

Other parties in Alberta have been focusing on education during the first week of the campaign.

The Alberta Party says if elected, they would double the number of educational assistants from kindergarten to Grade 12 to help provide support for teachers and students, while continuing to make efforts to reduce class sizes.

Alberta Liberal Leader David Khan said last week if elected, they would cap class sizes in the province beginning in kindergarten to Grade 3. The party has also promised more funding for teachers aides for special needs students.

The NDP has not yet released its full education platform.