Additional support from the provincial government has been announced to help children struggling with reading and math skills amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Friday, Premier Jason Kenney along with Education Minister Adriana LaGrange announced $45 million for students in Grade 1-3 who are identified by school authorities as needing more help in their literacy and numeracy.
The targeted programming is 16 weeks long to improve children’s math and reading skills up to their grade level. LaGrange says the new funding “is a major step by Alberta’s government to close the gap on pandemic-caused learning loss and ensure our students have a bright future ahead of them.” LaGrange says students across the province will be able to benefit from the targeted support.
Kenney says the goal of the programming is to help assess student reading levels to bridge the pandemic learning gap of the past two school years. ““We know that literacy and numeracy are critical for young students, and getting timely help at the start of the upcoming school year will ensure that all students are set up for future learning success.” said Kenney.
It is anticipated up to 50,000 students across Alberta will be able to take advantage from this additional support, with school authorities having to assess student reading and math understanding levels before taking part in the program.
Additional information will be available to school authorities in the coming weeks.
-Erika Rolling, Trending 55 Newsroom
