The Government of Saskatchewan has outlined its framework for education over the next decade.

The framework will be used to create an action plan for how Saskatchewan students are educated from 2020 to 2030 and were developed with input from nine different education partners.

The partners came together to begin working on the framework in May 2018. Over the 17 months they spend working together; they came up with four main priorities within the framework that will outline the main focuses.

  • Inclusive, safe and welcoming learning environment;
  • Ensuring students have the skills and knowledge for their future;
  • Forming connections and relationships; and
  • Supporting mental health and well-being.

Everett Hindley, the MLA for Swift Current, said the four priorities are just an outline, and they will get into the specifics throughout the decade.

"This is kind of the broad overarching themes of what we want to focus on. With each budget year, you are going to see specific investments," he said. "Deputy Premier and Minister of Education Gord Wyant has talked about engaging with school community councils and doing a consultation because we need to make sure that any changes we do make, that we do it in consultation with those involved in the education sector. Whether its parents or administrators or teachers or whoever it is, we want to make sure that the decisions we made are the right decisions for the kids in the classroom."

Hindley said that with how the education system changes from decade to decade, it's important that they are able to adapt there plans to meet the needs of the students and the education system.

"It's a different world these days. The purpose is to build the foundational skills they need to build and get knowledge and to make sure that they have the skills and the knowledge to prepare for what's after graduation, but it's different now," he noted. "There are different ways to get there, and there are different stressors. We have to work with our partners that are involved in the education system to make sure that we provide the best education for our kids."

He added that the four priorities that form the framework are reflective of the world that we are in today and are some of the things they want to achieve.

He said that with every school division facing different challenges, their priorities would apply to school divisions differently.

“There’s going to be a framework in place that dictates across the province. These are the four main priorities of the provincial education plan framework, and this is what we want to achieve, but we want to be able to give school divisions some ability to make those decisions so they can try and achieve these in the ways that they see the best fit."

The nine organizations involved include:

  • Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations;
  • Gabriel Dumont Institute;
  • League of Educational Administrators,
  • Directors and Superintendents;
  • Métis Nation-Saskatchewan;
  • Ministry of Education;
  • Office of the Treaty Commissioner;
  • Saskatchewan Association of School Business Officials;
  • Saskatchewan School Boards Association;
  • and Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation.

Hindley said that all the different organizations working together shows just how diversified our province is.

"You look at the organizations that were part of this framework, it's everything," he said. "We wanted to get as broad of a cross-section as we could of those that are involved in the education system because those will be are partners that will help us into the future and they've helped us to develop this framework, to develop these four priorities because that’s what we were hearing from the partners.”

Education partners will now use the four priorities to guide the building of a provincial action plan to ensure the priorities are achieved within Saskatchewan’s Prekindergarten to Grade 12 school system.