Student needs, gifted kids among topics raised at STF consultations

There’s a lot that can come between students and their education, and last fall, the Regina Public School Teachers’ Association heard about them during stakeholder consultations for a new strategic plan on education.

President Jeff Perry said issues like bullying, mental health, language and cultural needs came up during the meetings, as well as how schools need to be equipped to address them.

“What we’ve learned about learning needs has exploded in the last 20 years, about how we deal with students with designations like ADHD or depression or high anxiety,” Perry said.

“How you deal with that child might require modifications to their learning plan or special services or resources. It might even require that student to get some specialized one-on-one help for a period of time. If those things aren’t available, the classroom teacher’s trying to juggle all of that at one time,” he said.

Stakeholders also raised the need to keep gifted students interested. Perry said it’s an overlooked issue because people assume that those students will just manage themselves.

But if those students are bored and don’t feel challenged, they’ll act out.

“They lose interest in school and become behavioral problems. They turn their brilliant minds onto other things and get into trouble,” he said.

Perry said one parent was frustrated about how their four-year-old child wasn’t allowed to start school. He said that conversation pointed to how the education system could be made simpler for parents to understand.

“There’s lots of things people don’t understand. That’s a legislative piece that has nothing to do with the teacher or the school or the division,” he said.

Consultations in Regina were among many held across the province by local branches of the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation. Perry said there were more than 200 of them, plus an online survey.

Feedback will be compiled into a report for the provincial government this fall.