EDMONTON, AB: Wildrose Shadow Education Minister Mark Smith released the following statement on the NDP government launching an online portal for curriculum review feedback:
“I was surprised to see today that a vague online survey open for only one month will be replacing substantive stakeholder feedback, including feedback from parents for the NDP government’s curriculum review.
“Parents know best when it comes to their children, and they should have a larger role in consultation. We need to ensure this review doesn’t become ‘Inspiring Education 2.0’ with millions of dollars lost and years of development wasted.
“There are certainly areas of our curriculum that need to be reviewed, particularly literacy and math. We’ve seen student achievement in math slipping and that’s a problem that needs to be addressed.
“We need to be sure that this is not change for change’s sake and that our children are not treated as guinea pigs throughout this review.”