Opposition calls on government to renew commitment for more school counsellors

The Official Opposition is calling on the government to renew the previous education minister's promise of getting more full-time counsellors into P.E.I. schools.

Former education minister Brad Trivers had made the commitment to have at least one full-time counsellor in every Island school in the fall. Last month, a cabinet shuffle removed Trivers from the role and replaced him with Natalie Jameson.

"I'm asking for kind of a temporary fix to have at least one full time counsellor in every school," said Green MLA and education critic Karla Bernard.

"Right now in the minister's directive, it states that one counsellor can have up to 400 students that they work with … it's an unmanageable workload on a good day.

"We're asking government to lower those numbers so that counsellors can do their jobs."

Bernard was a school counsellor herself before being elected to the riding of Charlottetown-Victoria Park. She said former colleagues often reach out to her and she's hearing the pandemic has already made unfortunate circumstances worse.

"[There's] elevated anxieties and depression and counsellors have a much bigger caseload than they had pre-COVID," she said.

"There's a lot of dealings with suicidal ideations and counsellors are reporting that they're seeing students now that they've never seen before."

Government 'fully committed'

Bernard raised the issue in the legislature during question period on Friday, asking Jameson to reaffirm the previous minister's commitment.

Jameson did not answer the question directly, but said "this government is fully committed to the mental health of our students."

"To be honest, I don't see that reflected at all," Bernard told CBC News on Monday. 

"I was told things were going one way and then hearing that a lot of teachers were feeling stressed because they felt they had to, you know, get the kids ready for online learning. They had to make sure they got certain curriculums done in case there was a shutdown."

In November, a CBC News investigation revealed Island teachers were reporting heavier workloads and more stress related to the pandemic. 

"So whether or not the government intended for extra stress to get these things done, that is exactly what happened."

Numbers going up

Officials said Minister Jameson was not available for an interview Monday, but that government would continue to make investments in more front-line resources, including school counsellors.

They also said the number of schools with a full-time counsellor has increased to 40 — up from 27 in October 2020.

The province had used money from the COVID-19 contingency fund to pay for 13 new full-time equivalent counsellors, which resulted in 21 schools getting more counselling hours. 

Eight new counsellors were also added to the system, but officials could not say if this funding would be renewed in the upcoming budget.

Bernard said government can also help by funding community groups to alleviate the pressure on students and their families.

"School counsellors really have a finger on the pulse of how things are going in a school. They're supporting teachers, they're supporting admin, they're supporting our students, and everybody's struggling right now," Bernard said.

"We need to understand what trauma does to the brain, and if we don't help our students where they are, they're never going to reach their full potential."

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