The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Lisa Dempster, Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development:

Mr. Speaker, I rise in this Honourable House to congratulate Memorial University’s School of Social Work on 50 years of professional social work education in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The School of Social Work plays a critical role in preparing social workers for this challenging, yet fulfilling profession, through education and personal development.

I am also proud to say that the Provincial Government has been an integral partner in the evolution of social work education in our province.

Just recently, several Provincial Government departments received awards from the School of Social Work for our long-term commitment to the field education of social work students.

Recognizing that social workers in child welfare require a complex skill set that includes practical experience, my department’s offices throughout the province are pleased to serve as teaching facilities for social work students.

This would not be possible without the commitment of many of our professional social work staff to be field instructors.

In fact, through this commitment and our partnership with the School of Social Work, students will be able to complete their field placements in Indigenous communities in Labrador beginning in January 2019.

Mr. Speaker, I am also pleased to share that Lenora Barry, Clinical Program Supervisor in our Labrador City office, has been recognized as one of the first six field instructors in our province to be designated as a Professional Associate of Memorial University’s School of Social Work.

The Irish poet William Butler Yeats said ‘Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.’

I wish to express my appreciation to the Memorial University School of Social Work and all social work field instructors who, like Lenora, help to light that fire.

Thank you.