On December 21, 2016, Deputy Premier and Minister of Education Don Morgan received Dan Perrins's Educational Governance Review Report and announced the appointment of a six-person Educational Governance Advisory Panel to lead consultations with the education sector and the public. The mandate of the Panel was to engage stakeholder organizations in face-to-face dialogue and invite students, parents, teachers, administrators and the public to provide feedback on the Perrins Report through an online engagement process. The role of the Panel was to act independently of any stakeholder organization, to listen objectively and to gather feedback based on the information and options contained in the Perrins Report. The panel provided the Minister with a written report of their findings.
Respondents to the Panel
The consultation website was open from December 21, 2016 to January 23, 2017 on Saskatchewan.ca. During that period, 3,879 responses were received.
Themes heard by the panel include:
- Students are the heart of education.
- Continue to focus on the Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) to achieve the 2020 targets, including those outlined in the Saskatchewan Plan for Growth.
- Local voice matters – there is strong support for elected boards of education.
- SCCs have an important role at the school level.
- Minority Faith and Minority Language Education are key considerations.
- There is significant support for the Shifts in Governance described on pages 20 and 21 of the Perrins Report.
- First Nations and Métis voices in education must be strengthened and engagement with First Nations and Métis communities must be respectful of their ways of knowing.
- A further dialogue with northern communities is needed.
For a full listing and description of the themes, visit Appendix A of the Educational Governance Advisory Panel Review.