Education in Alberta
| Budget | $9.8 billion |
|---|---|
| Primary languages | English and French |
| System type | Provincial, public and private |
Education in Alberta is provided through funding from the provincial government. The earliest form of formal education in Alberta is usually preschool which is not mandatory and is then followed by the partially-mandatory kindergarten to Grade 12 (or twelfth grade). This is managed by Alberta Education (also known as the Ministry of Education) which has divided the province into 379 school authorities. Higher education in the province is guided by Alberta Advanced Education.
Alberta has a well developed educational system and is known for having one of the best educational systems in Canada, and the world. It has also historically performed well on international ranking tests however recently scores have been declining in some areas causing concerns for alarm.
The first schools in what is now Alberta were parochial, that is, they were organized, owned and operated by Church clergy, missionaries, or authorities, both Roman Catholic and Protestant. A nominal fee was often charged for the attendance of students at these schools, and the fee was more often waived, as an act of charity or as an act of proselytizing, or as an act of local solidarity.
The first "free" school (which would now be called a public school) in what is now Alberta, was established in the Hamlet of Edmonton, in what was then Northwest Territories, in early 1881. The school was established before the Northwest Territories had a Territorial Assembly, and before there was any law for the Territory respecting schools, or local government, or local taxation. The people of the Hamlet of Edmonton elected trustees to govern the establishment and operation of the school, and submitted to an informal local taxation entirely on the basis of local solidarity.
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