Minister Nicolaides Discusses Innovative Career Education for Students
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Summary
Learn English with Alberta s Minister of Education, Shep Chaudhuri Chakraborty. In this episode, she speaks with members of the Calgary Board of Education and other education partners at the Career and Technology Centre at Central Memorial High School to celebrate the opening of seven new Collegiate schools opening for students this school year.
Transcript
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Awesome, well, good morning, everyone, good afternoon, apologies, and a long morning for me, my kids starting school today, so lots to do, but I guess we're in afternoon now, but I want to thank everyone for joining us here today, I'm really happy to be here with the Calgary Board of Education at the Career and Technology Centre,
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just next door here to central memorial high school i know that everybody here is very excited
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to get back to school and today i'm happy to add to that excitement and before we get underway just
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want to thank the various partners who are joining us here today of course friends from calgary board
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of education friends from calgary catholic sate and other post-secondary partners as well thank
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you for being here today is a testament to the government of alberta but also the many
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education partners that we have our collective commitment to ensuring that a student's education
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sets them up for success in the classroom and of course for life after school is finished we all
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know that the alberta advantage and historic levels of investment are driving the province's
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economy forward this means that new industries are emerging and with that comes a variety of
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meaningful career pathways for students in STEM, aviation, skilled trades, and many more
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This exciting period of economic growth gives us the responsibility to adapt our education
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system to meet the needs of today so that students can continue to receive a world-class
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education that will set them up to succeed both in and outside of the classroom.
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And through our government's focus on enhancing career education opportunities for students,
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Career education helps students transition more seamlessly into post-secondary education
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It also helps them build the knowledge and skills they need to navigate their futures
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confidently by helping them better understand their strengths, discover their passions,
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explore many meaningful career pathways so today i'm here today and excited to be able to talk a
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little bit more about how the government of alberta is focused on improving career education and how
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our focus and investment has resulted in new collegiate schools opening for students this
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school year i'm confident that with a focus and an investment in career education the success
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of our students right now and the future is well in place today i want to talk a little bit more
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about the plentiful career education pathways available to students highlight our focus and
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investment into these pathways and celebrate the opening of this year's new collegiate schools
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firstly of course it's important to me that we continue to enhance career education this is a
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priority of the government of alberta so that we can make sure our students have every opportunity
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that they need to pursue their passions and succeed in our dynamic fast-paced and competitive
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job market whether it's through the opening of new collegiate schools or the expansion of other
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education pathways we're working together with schools communities post-secondary partners
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and industry to make sure that we're able to offer a wide range of exciting and rewarding
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learning opportunities for students while collegiates are just one part of the career
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education equation that already exists in our education system the collegiate model
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does indeed create new opportunities for students to pursue more specialized and focused programming
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alongside their regular courses this is what makes this model of education a great choice
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for students who are interested in gaining practical in-demand skills for their career
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interests and passions while completing their education in turn naturally this will help
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students get a head start on their post-secondary education and in pursuing high demand and good
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paying careers choice and education is a is fundamental for student success and a fundamental
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pillar of alberta's government a one-size-fits-all system does not work for everyone which is why
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it's critical to introduce the collegiate model into our education system since the introduction
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of this model in 2021 the demand to be a part of this unique delivery model has never been higher
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that's why through budget 24 we're working to keep up with the demand by investing more than
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64 million over the next three years specifically to support new collegiate schools and programs
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This investment will help students find and pursue their passions and will lead them to
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being more engaged in school, find more pathways into post-secondary education, and ultimately
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equip them with the skills and abilities they need for life after school.
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Through our government support for enhancing career education, I'm thrilled to share today
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that seven new collegiate schools across the province will come online this school year.
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Three of these schools will be right here in Calgary and be run by Calgary Catholic School
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Division, the Calgary Board of Education, and Fusion Collegiate. The remaining four collegiates
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are opening in other communities across the province in Calmore, Peace River Grimshaw,
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Coleman, and Dunmore. I look forward to shining a spotlight on the remaining collegiates in the
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weeks to come. From carpentry to animal health to pilot's licenses and more, there are now a total
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of 12 collegiate programs in our province offering a unique approach to education. While these 12
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schools vary in the career pathways that they offer, one thing remains constant. More collegiate
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schools mean more students exploring pathways between high school and careers or post-secondary
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education again giving them a head start on their educational journey and a competitive edge on the
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job market in closing i'm confident that by investing in career education today we're also
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investing in the future of our youth and the future prosperity of our incredible province
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by connecting lessons from the classroom to real world applications career education
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help students see how their current education will directly impact their future.
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No matter what they aspire to be, career education empowers them to make informed choices
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and to begin to build the foundations that they need for future success.
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I encourage parents and students to explore the plentiful career pathways available in our education system,
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including those offered by collegiate programs.
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And I encourage our school authorities to continue to work with my department
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To close, I want to give a very special acknowledgement
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and thanks again to Calgary Board of Education,
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Calgary Catholic School Division Fusion Collegiate
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that our students receive their full potential.
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It's my pleasure now to pass things over to Nancy Close
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On behalf of the Calgary Board of Education trustees,
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and other guests at the Career Technology Centre this afternoon.
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and the countless opportunities they provide for students.
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This school year, the CBE has launched the Digital Future Pathways Collegiate for students
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with an interest in information and communication technologies.
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More than 190, and we're very excited about that number, more than 190 grade 10 students
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have enrolled in the program, which will enable them to take technology-focused CTS classes
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The Digital Future Pathways Collegiate will allow students to explore a variety of cutting-edge
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programs and training pathways, including programming, robotics, engineering, animation,
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photography, I think even photojournalism, and web development.
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Through our partnership with SAIT, they will be able to learn and gain hands-on experience
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Students may eventually participate in dual credit opportunities as they progress through
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to grade 12 and this gives them a real jump start to their post-secondary education. Calgary is
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quickly becoming a technology hub and is leading innovation in the technology field. Alberta's
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labour market research shows strong demand for technology jobs now and into the future. The CBE
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has a history of providing world-class career and technology studies in all of our high schools
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as well dual credit opportunities and apprenticeship programs help high school students
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find their passion and work towards post-secondary opportunities in keeping with our priorities of
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achievement well-being equity the cbe is excited to offer opportunities for all students to explore
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a variety of career pathways and possibilities all of which contribute to student success and
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And of course we want to see our students flourish in life, work and learning.
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So thank you and I'd love to pass it on to Trustee Ivanelli to speak.
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The greatest natural resource of any vibrant community is its youth and their success.
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Today, we embrace the provincial decision that support exactly that, student success.
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My name is Lori Ivanelli, and I am the vice chair of the board at the Calgary Catholic
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It is truly an honor to be here today as we prepare for an exciting new school year with
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The Calgary Catholic School District is the largest Catholic school district in Alberta,
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proudly serving approximately 63,000 students across 118 schools
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located in Calgary, Airdrie, Cochrane, Chestermere, and Rocky View County.
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We are committed to our mission and vision of living and learning in our Catholic faith
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so that students centered in Christ can realize their full potential.
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As governors, we aim to advocate for the collective needs of the thousands of students
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that we proudly serve through the priority lens of student success this government and the minister
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of education education the honorable dimitrios nicolaitis have heard that important important
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message and are taking action to ensure that the pathway to success is certainly well paved
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we are so thankful for the government's support in providing additional opportunities for our
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students to explore their interests and prepare for future careers in january of 2025 calgary
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catholic will be pleased to share the opening of one new collegiate program the our ladies of the
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rockies collegiate school these collegiate schools will provide our students with unique
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hands-on learning environments high school students will engage in dual credit courses
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and off-campus education through partnership with institutions like SAIT and Olds College,
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gaining valuable experience and post-secondary credits while still in high school.
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In collaboration with post-secondary institutions, these specialized programs will allow our students
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to dive deeply into areas like science, engineering, aviation and business, empowering students to
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explore their passions develop critical skills and pave the way for rewarding careers in higher
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education we are thankful to alberta's government for their continued investment in our students
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futures these new collegiate programs will not only enrich our educational offerings but also
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strengthen our communities by preparing a skilled capable workforce ready for ready to contribute
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to alberta's growing economy we look very forward to the near future where we may share
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personal success stories because of this government's commitment to alberta students
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and the collegiate schools not only are career pathways being chartered they are being well
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paved i quote malcolm x who stated education is the passport to the future for tomorrow belongs
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to those who prepare for today thank you for your support and commitment to our students
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together we are preparing bright futures for alberta's youth and this province's
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greatest natural resource i now welcome dr janet welsh from sate to provide her closing remarks
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good afternoon everyone oh there's a lot of people here i didn't turn around until now
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on behalf of SAIT we are pleased to be part of this announcement it's important to us to continue
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encouraging students to pursue post-secondary education and consider careers in the trades
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across Alberta and Canada the trades are a cornerstone of our economic foundation
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whether it's constructing new buildings, maintaining electrical systems, or the intricate
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work of welders and plumbers, skilled tradespeople are essential to the infrastructure that supports
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our daily lives. For students, choosing a career in the trades is more than just securing a job.
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It's a gateway to a fulfilling and prosperous future. Trades offer stable, well-paying careers
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that provide long-term security and satisfaction in a world where many industries face uncertainty
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the trades offers a dependable path to success at sage we are committed to creating pathways to
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world-class trades and technical education our partnerships with the calgary board of education
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and the calgary roman catholic separate school district are shining examples of this commitment
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For over a decade, we've worked closely with both CBE and CCSD to develop dual credit and
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youth program pathways that have benefited thousands of young people.
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These programs allow students to explore their future post-secondary options early, giving
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Among the dual credit opportunities, six are directly related to skilled trades, including
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auto body automotive services technician rv technician welding carpentry and pipe trades
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these programs provide hands-on experience and a clear path to a successful career
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we're also excited about the digital futures collegiate program co-designed with cbe this
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initiative opens new opportunities for youth in technology related fields and serves as a pathway
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into state school for advanced digital technology it's yet another example of how we are expanding
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opportunities for students and strengthening our collaborative relationships with cbe
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and the government of alberta at sate we believe in supporting young people as a transition to
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post-secondary education and the workforce by continuing to champion the trades and expanding
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these pathways we're not only shaping the future of our students but also securing the future of
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Alberta and Canada thank you great thank you everyone for coming we're now going to open up
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to questions from the media starting with those who are here in the room there's a microphone in
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the back corner there if you'd like to make your way there and once you get there please state your
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name outlet and please give it a one question one follow-up yeah uh it's radio canada so can you
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just expand a bit on how this dual credit will work is like is it for post-secondary education
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it's going to be taken into account for their high school education just like the day-to-day
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grid of it yeah sure and i'll invite our partners who maybe have some more expertise on on the day
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to day to add if if they'd like but i guess the the best way to really think about the collegiate
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programming is as a pathway uh making it available uh as in many cases as early as junior high
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uh for many students so if you have students who are interested as we heard you know there's some
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programming in digital technology or in aviation or in other areas by working with a post-secondary
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partner that school that school division can begin to offer customized programming
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to those students so that they can participate in that stream and it's focused of course as
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all students would have that opportunity to pursue that stream and then as we heard of course and
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understand have the opportunity for that to translate into dual credit so that they can
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earn credit for high or for post-secondary once they're completing their high school diploma
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okay and i'll say is it like a way to keep kids in school longer or is it just because
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the point of it is to explore career paths that are often uh left aside yeah you know i think
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it's uh it's a little bit of both um i think at the primary kind of purpose is to help students
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get a head start on on a post-secondary credential or in help them get a head start with the skills
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and knowledge that they need in a particular field or occupation that they want to go into
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um you know sometimes of course that can be helpful for students that maybe aren't too
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interested in academics and maybe are questioning whether they're going to finish high school or not
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and if they can see alternative programming that can help them i think it can help serve
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both those purposes but the primary purpose is again to help a student advance towards a
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post-secondary program or a career opportunity that they're really interested in thank you
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any other questions in the room hi megan cobb global news uh first question how will it fit
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in with the curriculum like are these offered as electives and so they're still taking their
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science their math their english all of those courses yes that's correct the standard you know
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graduation requirements remain in place that a student would need to successfully complete
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their diploma. So these are other opportunities that would be available to students.
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And then I have a question from a colleague. So legislation is expected to drop this fall
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when it comes to opt-in to sex education and LGBTQ2 policies. Can you give us any more details
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on what we can expect that legislation to look like in the consultation that's been done prior
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to drafting that legislation? Yeah, sure. We'll have to wait a little bit more until we have the
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final pieces put in place whether that's respect to legislation policy regulation i'd be happy to
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share more details when when that's available of course the premier announced back in february
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of the the government's plan to make some changes with respect to sex at curriculum
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and to involving parents with respect to changing pronouns at school since that time
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my ministry and i have sat down with our partners school boards teachers and other individuals
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to have some open conversations and discussions about what that means what that would look like
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and work together as it relates to implementation so we've had some lengthy conversations since
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february as it relates to implementation of these policy objectives hi there terry from ctv news
00:23:16.080
um for my first question is just for the minister to follow up on uh the opt-in opt-out are you able
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to speak to how many parents or caregivers guardians are opting out at the moment is this
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a demand because there's so many people opting out sure um i don't i don't have that information
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directly in front of me i'd have to follow up with you i'm not sure if the ministry even collects
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that information we may have to coordinate with our school boards and and get a total number but
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i'd have to follow up with you to get you some more precise details okay and my second question
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is actually directed to nancy and laurie i know that we're dealing with record enrollment as we
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see increased population growth can you speak to how those are being addressed in the classrooms
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and also plans on the long term we've heard a lot about modular classrooms and bringing in
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additional support staff but as things continue to grow how will we deal with this long term
00:24:09.920
such a good question and obviously we're laser focused on addressing the increased enrollment
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that we're seeing in our schools and so i'll probably answer in a variety of ways and then
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then you can follow up if I have not addressed your question specifically.
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We're anticipating, I think, 143,000, which is up from 138,244 students last year.
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And over the past two years alone, we've welcomed more than 13,000 students in our school system,
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So I wouldn't mind segueing to our need for new schools and new spaces.
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And so long-term, we've had great conversations with the government about our need for new
00:25:07.440
In fact, if we even go to our capital plan requests, for our 2025-28 capital plan requests,
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have 13 year one requests for new schools for 11,400 student spaces and overall 21 requests
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over three years and we need them all, not just one, not just two, all of them. But in the meantime,
00:25:29.880
we had a recent announcement about modulars. And so in total, we have approval for 47 modular
00:25:36.260
classrooms to be installed over the course of this school year. They're obviously not going to be
00:25:40.320
ready for now which will accommodate 1200 additional students and we have funding to
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relocate additional modulars from more enrollment schools to those with the greatest need
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and so while the modulars may not be in place for the first day schools are used to making
00:25:56.800
arrangements and i think this is what you're asking me to to respond to annual and in-year
00:26:02.720
changes in enrollment so long so long term we actually just had our 10-year plan for student
00:26:11.840
accommodation and facilities long term that could look like changes in grade configurations at a
00:26:19.200
school level it could look like i'm i'm taking a blank here for the moment but there's lots of
00:26:27.280
decisions that can be made at a school based whether they're using the library or the learning
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Commons or whether they're reconfiguring how that space is used at the school level, we are going
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to do the best we can to accommodate the increased enrolment in our schools because student success
00:26:44.080
is obviously important to us. Did I halfway answer? No, you did and I would love to put
00:26:49.280
the same question to Laurie, please. Okay. Did you say no, I didn't? No, you did.
00:26:54.480
thank you for that question the calgary catholic school district has also seen consistent growth
00:27:04.640
in student enrollment over the past several years reflecting a growing demand for quality catholic
00:27:10.560
education this year alone as our september 30th 2024 projected enrollment will be 64 514 students
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and that is an increase of 2918 students or approximately 4.7 percent in regards to funding
00:27:30.000
and budget plans on may 24th of 2020 24 the board of trustees approved the district operated
00:27:37.840
operating budget which included a deficit of 21.5 million dollars to help address the higher
00:27:44.800
than expected enrollment growth and cost pressures across the province on july 23rd
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the minister of education announced an additional 125 million dollars in funding for alberta school
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authorities for the 2024-2025 school year as part of this funding the calgary catholic school
00:28:05.760
district will receive 7.8 percent of the total amount which we are extremely grateful for the
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district proposed the following use of the additional funding which supports the board
00:28:18.000
priorities of student success and well-being and was approved at the ccsd board of trustees
00:28:25.040
august 28th special board meeting we plan to hire 50 contingency teachers diverse learning and
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technology support so 2 000 additional education assistant hours 12 diverse learning teachers
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additional therapy therapy support including occupational therapists physical therapists and
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speech language pathologist a second district diverse learning teacher epd site enhancements
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and an additional technology for students and teachers basically all the monies received are
00:29:00.000
going directly back into the classroom to help with the needs that are increasingly growing
00:29:06.080
we continue to struggle however with a deficit but look forward to our continued work with the
00:29:11.760
ministry to solve those growing issues thank you all right we have one time for one more question
00:29:18.320
so we're going to head to the phones operator can you please put through the first caller
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the first caller is chelan skalski from ctv news edmonton please go ahead
00:29:31.360
hi thank you so much for taking my questions apologies they are off topic
00:29:34.800
there for the minister on the new social studies curriculum i'm hearing from educators who call
00:29:38.640
the new curriculum out of reach, irrelevant and
00:29:53.880
think your commentary was that some teachers or
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question please jump in and correct me um you know i i recognize that especially with a topic
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like social studies everybody has a different opinion um you know especially with social
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studies we're talking about history we're talking about government politics and we see every day of
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course that people have different views of how society should be governed priorities of government
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of society interpretations of history so i know that there's always going to be different opinions
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and and that's okay um you know we live in a pluralistic society and that's completely
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acceptable and desired we we should all have different opinions on different topics to create
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some dialogue to create discussion what i think is most critical in the social studies curriculum
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and which i strongly believe has been implemented are uh are a number of things first and foremost
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ensuring that the learning objectives give students a strong foundation in critical thinking
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and the draft social studies curriculum does exactly that if memory serves me correct
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approximately 16 percent of the learning outcomes relate ask students to recall or memorize
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information with the vast majority of learning outcomes directed towards asking students to
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develop create and synthesize ideas and information which are skills that are required
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to foster critical thinking abilities so that's the first priority secondly we want to make sure
00:31:40.840
in the social studies curriculum that we give students an objective and impartial view of
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history and of the facts so that they can make up their own minds and develop their own conclusions
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and that relates to the third point which i think is absolutely essential with the social studies
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curriculum which is that we have to build a social studies curriculum that gives students
00:32:01.720
the right tools and knowledge that they need to be active and well-informed citizens and i believe
00:32:07.800
the the new social studies curriculum does exactly that there's opportunity there for
00:32:12.840
students to separate and understand the difference between fact and opinion there's opportunities
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there for students to engage in critical conversations understand how to be active
00:32:24.360
citizens and give them all of those tools so i i understand that again folks will have different
00:32:30.040
opinions but i am confident that we are setting students up for success and it's not just my
00:32:36.600
opinion i know we have 1700 teachers with 429 schools from across the province who are working
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with us to pilot this new curriculum this uh this september uh this school year uh which i think
00:32:50.920
speaks to uh the the broad agreement that there's a avenue to move forward here and a follow-up
00:32:59.560
yeah a follow-up to that with the 1700 teachers piloting the new material this fall i guess how
00:33:03.880
closely will you be listening to that feedback they provide could we see a very different final
00:33:07.800
curriculum rolled out next september could you have to go back to the drawing board altogether
00:33:11.400
or do you see this basically as being done well with uh there's various stages of course through
00:33:17.160
curriculum development through the piloting you know we're hoping to see how the curriculum
00:33:22.200
really works in the classroom have a closer look at things like load resources so we're really in
00:33:27.960
the final stages here we spent eight months trying to answer the big questions about content subject
00:33:35.080
grade appropriateness age appropriateness and i think we've been able to address all of that
00:33:39.240
which is why we're now ready to move forward to the piloting phase whereby again i expect to see
00:33:44.760
some some changes at a more operational level i i don't anticipate that we'll see major shifts
00:33:50.760
from the draft curriculum as a result of the the piloting process there's of course always
00:33:55.320
opportunity for modification but i don't think we'll go through the piloting process and then say
00:34:00.440
all of grade six needs to completely change and it shouldn't focus on democracy it needs to focus
00:34:06.280
on another subject entirely i think a lot of those big questions have been answered and now we're
00:34:11.000
looking to answer other questions around implementation operationalization teachability
00:34:18.360
and other components all right that's all the time that we have today thank you all for coming