‘No excuse:’ Online course asks about positive effect of residential schools
ST. PAUL, Alta. — Alberta’s education minister apologized Thursday after learning an online social studies course asked students about the positive effects of residential schools.
Students were asked: “A positive effect of residential schools was?” The four multiple choice options listed were: that children were away from home, they learned to read, they became civilized and they were taught manners.
The question prompted a complaint from a student taking the course from the St. Paul Alternative Education Centre. A photo of the question was posted online Wednesday and was met with outrage.
“It’s such an offensive matter,” Education Minister David Eggen said Thursday after an event in Bon Accord, Alta. “For this kind of material to still be floating around in 2018 is just beyond the pale and quite frankly it’s the responsibility of all teachers and principals and school boards to make sure it doesn’t happen.