Saskatchewan Distance Learning Corporation New Treasury Board Crown for Online Learning

Released on December 7, 2022

The Government of Saskatchewan has established a new treasury board crown corporation to oversee centralized online education in the province through a planned acquisition of Sun West School Division's Distance Learning Centre (DLC). 

The DLC will be called the Saskatchewan Distance Learning Corporation. It will operate as the head office and main hub for online education in the province.  

"The DLC is a well-established operation with skilled staff, robust technology, and a wealth of courses to provide a ready-made foundation for the centralized model," Education Minister Dustin Duncan said. "This acquisition ensures that all students will have access to high quality online education regardless of where they are living in the province."

DLC's platform currently offers more than 180 online courses for Kindergarten to Grade 12, including more than 70 high school electives and has ready to use educational resources for students and teachers including instructional videos and lesson plans.

Students attending the new online school will continue to have access to their local school division for driver's licence training, graduation ceremonies and extracurricular activities. 

All Saskatchewan students will have access to the DLC and as with in-classroom education, it will be free. Most students enrolled are expected to be from public school divisions but separate school divisions, the Conseil des Écoles fransaskoises and qualified independent schools may continue to be able to offer online learning via an application process to the Ministry of Education. This application process will ensure they follow a provincial quality assurance framework.

Darren Gasper has been seconded from Sun West School Division to oversee the work to determine the new provincial online learning school's operating structure. Darren is employed as a Superintendent at Sun West School Division and has more than 22 years of experience in the education sector, including providing leadership to the Sun West DLC for the last nine years.

The main office for the provincial online school will be located in Kenaston with additional satellite locations to be created throughout the province. Teachers, regardless of where they live, will have employment opportunities to work for the online school in the coming months. Student registration is also anticipated to open in the coming months.

Information on the new online school can be found at: www.saskatchewan.ca/residents/education-and-learning/prek-12-education-early-learning-and-schools/online-learning.

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