PRINCE ALBERT — The provincial government recently announced it is winding down the Grade 12 provincial examination program at the end of August 2025, and local students couldn’t be happier.
The province will end the examination program while continuing to develop a province-wide student assessment program.
The Saskatchewan Rivers School Division Board of Education and Saskatchewan Rivers Students for Change (SRSC) have both advocated for the discontinuation of the departmental exams. Taylor Henderson is a Grade 12 student at WP Sandin School in Shellbrook and the SRSC rural board representative. Henderson was pleased with the province’s decision.
"The end of departmental exams is a huge relief for me and many of my classmates,” Henderson wrote in an email to the Herald. “I’ve seen students who worked hard all semester feel completely overwhelmed because one bad exam day could affect their final grade. Knowing that future students won’t have to go through that stress makes me proud of the work the SRSC has done.”
Jacklyn Sten is a student at Canwood School and the president of the SRSC for 2024-25. Sten also welcomed the change.
“With the discontinuation of departmental exams, it brings great relief to myself and many of my classmates,” Sten said. “Departmental exams are something many students worry about, as their teachers do not necessarily know what will be on the exam and cannot fully prepare them for it.
“Many students have had their averages dropped by 10 to 20 per cent because the departmental is worth a huge percentage of their final grade. I for one am proud of the work the SRSC has done and relieved that future students will have to write departmental exams.”
SRSC began advocating to end the exams in 2022. In early 2023, the SRSC wrote a letter to then Education Minister Dustin Duncan advocating this change.
Superintendent Garette Tebay is the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division representative who oversees SRSC. Tebay said the group has been advocating for an end to the provincial examination program since she began working in Saskatchewan Rivers School Division. Tebay was pleased to see the advocacy work of several iterations of the SRSC pay off.
“The group sent a letter to the minister in 2023 outlining their concerns that students in Carlton were not even familiar with what a departmental exam was, and students in some of our rural schools have to write more than one exam in some cases to receive their high school diploma,” she explained.
“The students saw this as an unequal practice and offered their suggested solutions to level the playing field and maintain strong assessment practices. With this announcement, their voices were heard. I can think of several former SRSC members who should be cheering right now alongside this year's group.”
The province said in a press release that discontinuing provincial exams will create a more equitable system for Grade 12 students. Saskatchewan is currently the only province where some students are required to write provincial examinations in certain Grade 12 subjects while others are not. In the 2023-24 school year, only 25 per cent of students needed to complete a provincial exam.
Education Minister Everett Hindley said in a press release last week that they made the decision after receiving feedback from school board trustees, teachers and families across the province.
“We are pleased that work continues on developing a Saskatchewan student assessment program that will help our schools and government in improving student success,” he added.
Adults and home-based learners will be able to enroll in Grade 12 courses through the Saskatchewan Distance Learning Centre or applicable post-secondary institutions to earn Grade 12 credits.
According to the province, the Ministry of Education continues to collaborate with education partners on the Saskatchewan Student Assessment program (SSA) announced in November 2024.
When implemented, SSA will provide parents, students and teachers a snapshot of student performance in Grades 5 and 9 mathematics and Grades 4, 7 and 10 English language arts, as well as a common understanding of what it means to be at grade level. The SSA program is being developed as part of the Provincial Education Plan.
The goals of the SSA program are to provide a fair and objective measure of how students are doing, help guide instruction and assist schools, school systems and government in improving student achievement.
