Alberta to distribute $45M to schools for literacy, numeracy supports
Young Alberta students struggling to learn during the COVID-19 pandemic are getting help from the province and their schools.
Education Minister Adriana LaGrange announced Wednesday afternoon the Alberta government would distribute $45 million for literacy and numeracy support.
The funding comes at a rate of $490 per student, or $980 if they need help with both literacy and numeracy.
"Without a doubt, learning during this pandemic has been a challenge for the entire education community in Alberta," LaGrange said.
"This funding will allow schools to increase supports to improve writing, reading and numeracy skills for younger students who have fallen behind during the pandemic.
"This could mean increasing the intensity of programming for students, including moving to small groups or one-on-one support, hiring additional staff, implement new numeracy programming for early year students, increasing targeted parent communication programs or involving in more programming, or ensuring staff who are providing this intervention for students have the necessary supports or tools that they need."
The initial focus will be students in Grades 2 and 3, with Grade 1 students to follow next February.
Approximately 38,000 students in Grade 2 and 3 will receive literacy support, and 25,000 students will get numeracy help.
In addition, the education minister announced the weight of Grade 12 diploma exams would be lowered to 10 per cent this school year.
"This change will give students the crucial exam-writing experience they need if they choose to go into post-secondary, while recognizing the impact the pandemic has had on their learning."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.