CEA Handbook

P.J. Hammel is a professor of Education at the University of
Saskatchewan.

The CEA Handbook is subtitled Le Ki-Es-Ki; this subtitle would seem to be phonetic French for “who’s who” and would seem to indicate the two major characteristics of this annual publication. First, it is a directory of individuals, organizations, and publications in Canadian education; second, the work is completely bilingual. Characteristics of physical format which help to make this a convenient source of directory information are: compact size (4” x 9”); plastic spiral binding, which allows it to lie flat when opened at any page; and colour coding, which identifies the various sections of information.

The following information is provided in colour-coded sections: The Canadian Education Association (its organizational structure, purposes, and functions); Officers and Directors of CEA; Department of Education Officials (listed alphabetically by province); School Board Officials (listed alphabetically by place name, but because “many school boards do not include the place in their name, an index of those boards and where they may be found precedes the listing for each province”); Teacher Education Institutions; Universities and Colleges; Federal Government Departments (with, in some cases, an indication of the relationship to education); National Organizations; Miscellaneous Provincial Organizations; Teachers’ Organizations; School Trustees’ Associations; Business Officials; Home and School Associations; Education Publications (national and provincial).

It is often difficult to comment on the accuracy of the information in a work of this nature. In this case, however, it was possible to compare the content of the School Board Officials section for the province of Saskatchewan with Saskatchewan Education 1982 Directory of School Officials. A total of 32 Saskatchewan School Boards (18 Public, 14 Roman Catholic Separate School Boards) were omitted from the CEA Handbook. The following partial list, with enrolments in parentheses, indicates that a number of significant boards were omitted: Northern Lights Public School Board (4,341; this board has jurisdiction over approximately one-half of the province’s geographic area); Yorkton Regional High School Board (914); Melville Comprehensive High School Board (509); Weyburn R. C. Separate School Board (428); Grenfell Public School Board (411); Gravelbourg Public School Board (383); Lloydminster R. C. Separate School Board (352); Swift Current R. C. Separate School Board (252). Errors of this magnitude reflect rather badly upon both the research and the editorial supervision that have gone into this work. One would hope that the other sections are much more accurate.