N.W.T. replaces Alberta curriculum for junior kindergarten to Grade 12 with B.C.’s

YELLOWKNIFE – The Northwest Territories says it will no longer teach Alberta’s curriculum in its schools.

The territory says it has signed an agreement with British Columbia to teach its junior kindergarten to Grade 12 curriculum instead.

N.W.T.’s education department says in a release that B.C.’s curriculum integrates Indigenous world views and knowledge.

The department says it started looking at curricula in Canada’s western provinces in 2019 to see which one aligned best with the territory.

A recent rewrite of Alberta’s kindergarten to Grade 6 curriculum has been widely criticized by the Alberta Teachers’ Association as being too skewed toward Eurocentric history and for referring to First Nations, Inuit and Métis only in the past tense.

N.W.T. says the B.C. curriculum will be phased into schools in the territory over the next several years.

“British Columbia’s redesigned curriculum aims to personalize learning, making it more student-centered and flexible,” N.W.T. Education Minister R.J. Simpson said in a release Thursday.

“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 NWT’s JK-12 students.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2021.