Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides speaks in Calgary on Oct. 17, 2025. The province has introduced legislation that will require all issues be discussed "in a balanced way."--CP FILE PHOTO
zmason@medicinehatnews.com
The Alberta government tabled a far-reaching new education bill Tuesday.
The legislation, titled Bill 25: An Act to Remove Politics and Ideology from Classrooms and Amend the Education Act, proposes a slew of changes to the policy guiding education.
Amendments in the bill would affect classroom neutrality, student and staff conduct, and rules around educational resources and the display of flags.
President of the Alberta Teachers’ Association Jason Schilling calls the bill a “grab-bag of amendments to the Education Act.”
Changes included in the bill would grant the provincial government new powers currently under the jurisdiction of school boards, including the authority to direct the disposition of school properties deemed underutilized, the power to veto names for public school buildings and the requirement that superintendent contract extensions receive ministerial approval.
“As a provincial government, we’re ultimately responsible for the success of our education system and so ensuring that we provide a higher degree of transparency and accountability will help ensure that our education system continues to deliver a world class education,” said Minister of Education and Childcare Demetrios Nicolaides.
Other changes in the bill are designed to “strengthen neutrality.” Amendments to the Education Act will require the “impartial and unbiased presentation of educational programming” and ask school authorities to refrain from issuing statements on matters deemed “outside their purview.”
Nicolaides says a ministerial order from 2024 already requires objectivity from the Alberta curriculum.
“The amendments that we’re making in the bill will clarify that one of the key responsibilities of a school division is to ensure that they are presenting items or discussing issues in a balanced way,” he said. “Students need to learn how to think, not what to think.”
The minister did not clarify how this legislation would impact curriculums concerned with sensitive historical subjects like slavery.
In a statement to the News, Nicolaides said his ministry will provide guidance to school boards and ensure government and school priorities are aligned.
“School boards need to be focused on what matters, and that is reading, math, science and critical thinking. School boards should not be focused on ideological movements,” he said.
Schilling says the aims of the bill are vague. He also says the ATA was not a part of the discussions that produced it.
“Before any regulations are implemented in our schools, the association needs to be consulted, which it has not been so far. The association expects to be an engaged partner so that we can bring real-world classroom perspectives to the government’s plans for education,” he said.
Bill 25 also adds new requirements regarding the display of flags, requiring schools to obtain exemptions to display flags other than the Alberta and Canada flags.
It also adds new codes of conduct for school trustees and new standards for classroom safety.
