Dear Editor,
I’ve just seen promotion material for FortisBC to present in B.C. school curriculum. I am appalled that the Ministry of Education is considering this.
We have witnessed a serious flaw in our education systems in the past few years. The political turmoil south of the border and the anti-vaxing/masking movement have made this clear. Our critical thinking skills are being tested and we are failing the test.
We have access to too much information. As a result, information that has no direct effect on our lives is often ignored, especially anything that is contrary to our beliefs or forces us to look at how we live and behave.
As a result, we sometimes carve out our belief systems from limited or biased information.
The possibility that any corporation can — in any way — be a part of our education curriculum is totally unacceptable. How would such biased input be balanced? Where would it stop? Will our curriculum be altered politically like that of Texas?
Our education system needs to ensure critical thinking skills. Graduates need to be taught to understand bias in order to have effective decision-making skills.
Without those skills, our ability to be competitive in any field will be seriously challenged.
Peter van der Velden
TSAWWASSEN
