PRINCE ALBERT — The Saskatchewan Rivers Students for Change (SRSC) has brought forward a continuing concern about gaps in career guidance in the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division.
Rural student representative Taylor Henderson brought the matter forward during the board of education’s regular meeting on Dec. 9. She said younger students are receiving plenty of career guidance through things like education planner My Blueprint, career coaching, and career classes. However, a gap emerged in career guidance as students grew older.
Saskatchewan Rivers Education Director Neil Finch said there are student concerns about the lack of individualized supports in high schools. Finch said they are looking at several ways to change that.
“Some of it is for post-secondary scholarships and other things. Other organizations also have to help individuals wade their way through that,” Finch said.
“It’s a complicated piece, but in the end, we are going to try to find ways to continue to help support our students who are looking for life outside of high school because that is really what it is about.”
Sask. Rivers students discussed the gap in career guidance at their executive meetings on Oct. 28 and regular SRSC meeting on Nov. 4.
The topic of career guidance was one of several up for discussion, and Henderson said it was very animated.
One of the biggest concerns was a lack of help finding scholarships to apply for. Henderson said that as a Grade 12 student, juggling applying for university, finding scholarships and keeping high school academics strong could be a struggle.
Several SRSC students thought teachers could help identify scholarships, while others said there were enough items on teachers’ plates. Some students wanted to see career education included as part of Personal Development days.
“After some debate, we ended it there and decided to bring it to the board and note that it was a shared issue,” Henderson said.
After some board questions around what can be done about the career guidance gap, Finch promised to take the matter to his superintendent meeting.
"We actually did that today so we have got a bit of a plan moving forward that we want to bring to our students and see what they think of it,” he explained.
According to Henderson’s report, the SRSC will not advocate for consent education during this school year because the group has a great understanding of what that means.
“There was a large knowledge of consent education,” Henderson said.
The matter was brought forward by last year’s SRSC rural student representative Charlie Lysyk in May of 2024.
