42% of Grades 7 to 12 students don’t feel like they belong at school; 45% do not report feeling safe
REGINA - Today, Official Opposition Leader Carla Beck reacted to the Sask. Party government’s new education plan that is heavy on promises but short on solutions.
“A plan without resources to back it up is a plan to fail. Our schools have been cut to the bone after a decade of underfunding and we’re still awaiting specifics on how this government intends to fix them,” said Beck.
“Some of the ideas in this plan are good but I’m not holding my breath. Premier Moe ran on lower power bills last election and then raised them three times in a year, so this government has a record of making big promises and not delivering.”
Despite school divisions voting on the plan months ago, the Moe government waited to release it until negotiations with the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation broke down. The government made similar promises during negotiations with teachers in 2019. They struck a class size and composition committee after these issues were raised at the bargaining table. The committee never delivered recommendations for the 2020-21 school year, as was promised.
“We’ve seen this government play politics with our kids before,” said Beck. “They declared an emergency session over the names kids use for each other at school but let a hole in the roof of a Saskatoon school go unfixed for months. I really hope that school divisions and teachers get the resources and supports they’re calling for so this plan does not become another empty promise.”
According to the government’s plan:
- 52% of Indigenous students are not graduating within the 3-year window
- 24% of students are not attending school full time
- 30% of Grade 3 students are reading below grade-level
- 42% of Grades 7 to 12 students do not feel a positive sense of belonging at school; 45% do not report feeling safe
“The section on assessment is thin on details and I hope the Moe government isn’t leaving the door open for American-style standardized testing that takes resources away from our kids. Our kids need and deserve all the support they can get.”
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