(Dreamstime)

By Christian Oldale

Provincial Politics

Alberta providing more funds to support students, schools

Jul 23, 2024 | 12:48 PM

The Alberta government is providing funds to help address the increased demand in schools.

The province is investing $215 million to help alleviate the pressures of rising costs, increased enrolment, and inflation, beginning in the 2024-25 school year.

They say the funding will expand operational funding for school authorities across the province and increase the number of classrooms in Alberta’s fastest growing communities.

Premier Danielle Smith says, “More and more people are choosing to make Alberta their home and that means our K-12 schools are home to a growing number of students. We’re providing school authorities with additional spaces and resources, so they can continue the important work they do educating young Albertans.”

The $125 million increase will be split over every school authority in the province, and will be determined based on the number of students it serves. The money can be used for hiring new teachers and educational assistants, and to make sure rising costs will not take away from student learning.

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To meet the need for more student spaces, the province is also investing $90 million this school year to support the construction and installation of up to 100 new modular classrooms and the relocation of up to 50 modular units. These will create up to 2,500 new spaces and 1,250 optimized spaces for students in fast-growing communities in Calgary and Edmonton.

Minister of Education Demetrios Nicolaides explained, “As cost pressures continue to increase, we want to ensure that education funding is not being redirected away from students and classrooms. The additional funding we are providing to school authorities will help protect the classroom experience for our students.”

According to the province, a record $9.3 billion will be spent on Alberta’s education system in 2024-25, which is more than $46 million every day students are in school.

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