While this growth has been a tremendous help to Alberta’s success, it has also required our government to take clear and decisive action to ensure our health, education, and other core social programs remain world-class as they serve our growing population. When I became Minister of Education in 2023, I was given a mandate by Premier Danielle Smith to ensure the more than 800,000 students enrolled in Alberta’s Kindergarten to Grade 12 school system receive a high-quality education that prepares them for their future and guarantees their success in the classroom and beyond. The latest results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) show that Alberta continues to be a leader in education across Canada and around the world. Nationally, Alberta students rank first in reading and science and second only behind Quebec in math. Globally, we ranked second in reading and science and seventh in math, within statistical deviation. Behind this success in the classroom are school authorities with vision, teachers with passion, and a government committed to innovating how and where students learn. CHOICE IN EDUCATION School choice has been part of our province’s education system since the 1970s. Today, Alberta offers parents more choice in where their kids learn than any other province in Canada. Our government believes so strongly in the rights of parents to choose the kind of education their children receive, that in 2020, we passed the Choice in Education Act, officially recognizing public, separate, Francophone, independent, and charter schools, as well as early childhood services and home education programs, as being valued and integral to our education system. Alberta is the only province in Canada that allows charter schools to operate. These schools offer specialized programming through tailored learning and teaching style and approaches, philosophy, or pedagogy not already offered by other schools in their area. Independent (schools can focus on a 43 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 05, ISSUE 07 MINISTER NICOLAIDES - OP ED
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