NDP leader promises $10 million for student mental health

Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili has promised $10 million to support student mental health should he become premier this fall.

Half of that money would be used to hire 50 mental health nurses for schools across the province.

The province would work with school divisions on the rest of the funds, hiring child psychologists, counsellors, speech language pathologists and other supports.

In an announcement outside Regina’s Balfour Collegiate on Monday morning, Meili said parents and teachers are telling him that children are facing long wait times to get help.

“We talk to teachers and we’re hearing months and months before a kid can see a psychologist. They’re basically saying that help isn’t there,” Meili said.

The NDP leader said this money would be a reversal of government cuts to mental health supports.

Meili said the government has cut per-student funding by $300 per head since 2015-16 and there are currently fewer counsellors, psychologists and speech language pathologists than there were five years ago.

Families end up seeking help through the health-care system instead, he said.

“We should make sure those supports are in place in the schools where they’re actually going to work as well as they can with kids,” he said.

Educators province-wide, he said, are noticing a trend with more students struggling with their mental health.

“They’ve seen this huge shift in the last five years. There’s just so many more kids who are struggling with anxiety, struggling with depression, coming to school hungry (or) coming to school from really difficult home situations,” Meili said.

“And the schools just can’t keep up and can’t support them. And we need to make the most of our schools to help kids be healthier.”

To get nurses into schools, Meili said the province would work with nursing bodies to determine available staff. He expects some would be readily deployed.

“I think that we’re going to see likely some phasing there, where there will be some folks who are available right away and we can get those positions going,” he said.

“Others will take a bit of time to develop. The sooner the better.”

Students could be seen on school grounds that morning, many wearing masks. Meili said students have adapted well returning to school but COVID-19 has been added anxiety.

“Along with what (teachers) are seeing in their students, they’re seeing in the parents — that the parents who are coming are just so much more worried,” he said.