Merging Saskatchewan's school systems
By Lynne Bell
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听听听听听听听听听听听 The Saskatchewan government has stated that 鈥渢ransformational change鈥� will be necessary in order to protect public services in the province.
听听听听听听听听听听听 So far-in order to balance the budget-there have been cuts to the province's aboriginal court worker program, environmental assessment program, schools and others-including those that directly affect disabled people and seniors, to name two sectors of society.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Few would argue with any government aiming to spend taxpayer dollars responsibly. However, according to University of Regina social work professor Ailsa Watkinson: 鈥淭here is one very costly and unnecessary duplication of services that it could deal with right away without undermining one of our most cherished public services: that is, the amalgamation of the public, separate and associate schools into one public education system.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Watkinson (writing in the Leader-Post) states that merging the public and separate school systems could free up money for other necessary public services in Saskatchewan, without affecting the number of teachers in the province.
听听听听听听听听听听听 By cutting the considerable costs- 鈥渋n governance and programming鈥�- involved in maintaining two entirely different school systems, Atkinson argues that there would not only be more cash freed up for hands-on instruction in the classroom, but also significantly more cash available to fund other essential services.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淭he savings they would have if they brought together both schools would be much more and we'd have more money in the bank to provide other public services that are suffering,鈥� she said.
听听听听听听听听听听听 The right to create separate schools in Canada was established at the time of Confederation through the British North America Act. And when Saskatchewan became a province in 1905, the constitutional provision allowing for separate religious (in this case, Roman Catholic) schools was already a part of the Saskatchewan Act.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Anytime I see the word 鈥渃onstitution,鈥� I assume that something is for all practical purposes-unchangeable. That is, it's either too expensive, too time-consuming, or both. However, Watkinson states that that's not necessarily the case in this instance.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淪ome argue the constitutional provision makes it impossible to do away with denomination schools,鈥� she writes. 鈥淣ot so. The provision has been removed in other provinces and we can do the same. In doing so, we would be catching up with Manitoba, Quebec and Newfoundland & Labrador, which all has removed their previous constitutional right to separate schools.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Governments throughout Canada are currently in a position where they must make tough economic choices that affect all citizens. Their mandate is not only to fund education, but also a myriad of other services -among them: health care, funding to enhance the lives of people with disabilities, public infrastructure, and more.
听听听听听听听听听听听 By amalgamating the separate and public school systems into one public system, the money saved might only enhance the sustainability of public education in Saskatchewan, but other government-funded public services as well.听听
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Removing the religion from school: keep students focused on critical thinking
By Kelly Running
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听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 It鈥檚 a discussion, which proposes to save millions of dollars, so it must be a good idea? The idea comes from a U of R professor, Ailsa Watkinson, who feels that education should be focused on teaching students critical thinking skills and that religion can be taught at home.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 So, she proposes the two school systems should be merged.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 But, historically Canada developed the two school systems as a way to integrate the rights of the Catholic minority in Canada at the time. It was important that their rights, which included educating their children in Catholic schools was protected. So, with the introduction of the British North America Act of 1867, came a clause which guaranteed this protection. The legislation is literally as old as Canada is.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Canada was founded on different principals than most. It鈥檚 not like the United States where Church and State were to be completely separated and yet it was different from Britain where the Queen is the head of both government and the Anglican Church. Instead Canada decided that churches and the state would be partners.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Canada would look to subsidize Jewish schools in Quebec where the majority of the population were Christian. Hutterite schools on the prairie would be subsidized and Amish schools in Ontario would be allowed. Basically if you wanted your child to go to a school based on your beliefs the government had decided to work with you as opposed to against you.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 It became that all separate schools formed would simply be taxed differently. If a family elected to be part of the Catholic school system then they would have specially directed taxes for those families that chose separate schools over public schools. Thus Catholic Schools were able to thrive across Canada because a precedent had been set.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Today there is a push to eliminate religion from schools. When I was in elementary school we used to say the 鈥淟ord鈥檚 Prayer鈥� every morning, but it eventually stopped, and we simply had more time for show and tell鈥� the change didn鈥檛 actually affect me because I still recited the prayer in church. Besides I was always baffled why we never finished the prayer in school鈥� apparently the United Church version has an extra couple words.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 But, as with anything, is it time to make a change? There is a precedent set for amalgamating schools and these come from Quebec, Newfoundland, and Manitoba. Which, when you think about it Quebec wanted denominational schools to ensure their Catholic heritage, while Manitoba also had a strong connection to Catholicism in those early years; but both provinces have chosen to amalgamate schools.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Apparently all that needs to happen for this change is a simple request from the provincial government to the federal government stating that the provincial government would like to amend the Saskatchewan Act and Ottawa would very likely accept it because of the precedents set out before.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Ultimately I think in this day and age we go secular with our education and religion can be taught at home. If for example someone prays at certain times of days as part of their religion, allow it, have a room for them鈥� but that room should be for any religion. So if someone of a different faith wants to pray, they can simply all pray together.
听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听听I think we have to be understanding of people鈥檚 religions to teach tolerance, but when it comes to what鈥檚 taught in school, keep it focused on critical thinking.听
