The Ontario government has introduced a new science curriculum for grades 1 to 9 that will focus on "modernizing education and preparing students for success beyond the classroom."

The new curriculum, which will change the ninth-grade science curriculum, will focus on five main principles, including building practical training skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and incorporating Indigenous knowledge, ways of knowing, and perspectives.

The new key areas of study will be STEM skills, communications, jobs, the engineering design process, coding, emerging technologies, skilled trades, and environmental protection.

Notably, this is the first update to the science curriculum since 2007 for elementary schools and 2008 for grade 9. The new curriculum will be implemented for the 2022/2023 academic year.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said during a press conference, "Parents want to know that their children are learning current relevant knowledge that reflects the world we live in today. The world is becoming more and more interconnected through technology."

The five branches of the new curriculum spread over eight years of study are: STEM skills, life systems, matter and energy, structures and mechanisms, and earth and space systems. For grade nine, the focus will be on biology, chemistry, physics, and earth and space sciences.

Feedback and responses from more than 60 organizations and stakeholders, including Indigenous partners, helped shape the new curriculum.

The province will send a comprehensive guide for parents and teachers that outlines what students will learn, as well as designate next year’s PA day for STEM.

A call for proposals to fund Indigenous curriculum-aligned resources has also been launched, according to the Ministry of Education.

Lecce added: "Our government's plan has always been to prepare students for a rapidly changing world and to give students essential life and job skills such as mandatory financial literacy, learning how to budget for buying a home, and how to pay taxes." Lecce said. "These are the skills they need to get meaningful jobs and contribute to building their lives and the economy of their country."

Edited by: Dima Abu Khair