Alberta schools will receive $126 million over three years to increase classroom support staff to address the complex needs of some students.
The provincial government says according to teachers and school authorities, many students have diverse cognitive, social and emotional needs. Some may have learning disabilities or behavioural challenges, and others may need extra support learning English as an additional language.
The funding, which is part of the 2023 provincial budget, will enable school authorities to hire more educational assistants or increase their work hours, provide more training opportunities for staff, and/or hire specialists such as counsellors, psychologists and interpreters.
“For students with diverse and differentiating needs, this means more focused time and attention,” said Education Minister Adriana LaGrange in a statement.
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Funding will be allocated based on student enrolment and will be available to school authorities in September as part of their operational funding.
Edmonton Public Schools will also receive a $506,000 grant for an educational assistant internship pilot project to develop and retain educational assistants in classrooms.
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Wing Li, communications director with Support Our Students Alberta, said over the past three years the UCP has massively underfunded the public education system. Data from Statistics Canada estimates these cuts have amounted to a shortfall of $1.2 billion per year.
“Today’s minor funding announcement is hardly a drop in the bucket to make up for the funding cuts and under staffing that the public education system has endured,” Li said in a statement.
“Many public school classrooms have multiple students with complex needs and there needs to be enough support for wraparound resource teams to educate them equitably.”
Alberta Education says Budget 2023 includes a nearly $2-billion funding increase over three years to support the hiring of about 3,000 education staff, including teachers, educational assistants, bus drivers and school support staff.