A discussion on the effects of the sharp decrease in enrollment across Saskatchewan on the education system, teachers and school boards was held by the Weyburn Roman Catholic Separate School Division (WRCSSD) at its monthly meeting on Dec. 12 in Radville.

Statistics gathered show that there are 3,400 less students enrolled in Saskatchewan schools this year compared to last year. This decline is a combined total of all boards and districts across Saskatchewan. Weyburn, however, has not felt quite the same drop in numbers.

The Weyburn Central School Division had a decrease of 25 students, Weyburn School Division No 97 had a decrease of 27 students compared to last year, but the WRCSSD Board had an increase of 16 students compared to last year.

"(The enrollment decline) hasn't been as bad for Weyburn, but province-wide there has been a larger impact," said education director Al Boutin. Although the drop in enrollment wasn't experienced by the Weyburn Separate board, they will still suffer repercussions that may result due to the decline.

There was a discussion on the effectiveness of the teacher supervision inservice, held in early December. Attending the inservice were teachers from Weyburn, Radville and Estevan. The inservice focused on school improvement and teacher supervising techniques and the skills needed to improve.

The inservice is also planned to continue on in January and June. "The inservice proved to be effective and it focused upon improving the skills our teachers already have," Boutin said. The board was very pleased with how the inservice went and is looking forward to the rest of the sessions to be held in the balance of the school year.

The board also adapted a new code of ethics. This code was the same as the new code of ethics the Saskatchewan School Trustee Association adopted at their last meeting. These new ethics provide a guideline on how a school board should run.

The Separate School Division also had a faith inservice, which included a presentation by Father Ron Beacheness, who discussed the unique characteristics of the Catholic School system. He then put forward the challenge for teachers to stay true to what he called one-of-a-kind characteristics offered by the Catholic school system.