Saskatchewan Home Based Educators

SHBE and the College of Arts and Science of the University of Saskatchewan are pleased to announce that a Memorandum of Understanding on Prerequisite Policies for Home-Educated Students was signed November 14, 2006.

The entire document can be found here.

Jo-Anne Dillon, Dean of the College of Arts & Science, and Doug Schmuland, President of SHBE sign the Memorandum of Understanding

This memorandum addresses the issue of home-educated students not having the standard prerequisite course credits (30 level) required for admission to some classes at the college. Historically, not having the prerequisite courses that would have been achieved at a high school has presented a huge stumbling block for home-schooled students attempting to enter the University of Saskatchewan.

Home-schooled students wishing to enter the College of Arts and Science at the University of Saskatchewan will be able use the procedure outlined in the agreement to meet these prerequisites. The home-school parent will simply submit a form affirming that the student has achieved competence equivalent to the 30-level subjects and is therefore prepared to study at the required level.

It will be up to the parent to ensure that the student has met the objectives of the Saskatchewan Learning curriculum. SHBE will be presenting workshops at the 2007 SHBE convention to help the parent in this process.

This agreement only covers the prerequisites for the College of Arts and Sciences. Other colleges at the University of Saskatchewan are not a part of this agreement. It is the desire of SHBE, in time, to use this agreement as the starting point for discussions at the other colleges.

This agreement does not cover the general admission requirements to the University of Saskatchewan. The University of Saskatchewan and SHBE are continuing negotiations to have a new admission policy for home-schooled students in place as soon as possible. The process is moving in a timely manner and it is hoped that this new admission policy will be ready in time to be introduced at the SHBE convention in February. The University of Saskatchewan has assured SHBE that their wish is to have the new admission policy in place for the Fall 2007 semester.

This agreement with the College of Arts & Science is an important first step in the process of streamlining the admission of home-school students, but SHBE advises that the university is NOT yet ready to receive inquiries from home-school students. As soon as the new general admission policy is in place, SHBE and the University of Saskatchewan will inform home-based educators in the province.

SHBE, on behalf of the home-based educators of Saskatchewan, especially wishes to thank Jo-Anne Dillon (Dean of the College of Arts & Science), Tom Steele (Associate Dean) and Darrell Seib (Executive Assistant) for all their efforts in making this agreement possible.