(Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Education

Prince Albert Teachers and Students stand together during rotating strike

Feb 1, 2024 | 3:00 PM

Equipped with various noise makers and brightly coloured signs, hundreds of teachers from across the Prince Albert region, gathered on Thursday along one of Prince Albert’s busiest streets.

They were among the first to be included in the Saskatchewan Teacher Federation’s (STF) announced rotating strikes, which meant another day off for students. Some though used that time to show their support for teachers and desire to see an agreement reached. Grade 12 student Madeline Remy explained she is concerned about her future.

“I am in a University pre-Calculus class and if I miss 10 per cent of my class I am not going to pass it,” she said.

Among the outstanding issues for teachers are increased class sizes. Noting there are 40 students in her physics class, Remy said it’s hard for their teacher to answer all the questions in class and so meets with students during lunch breaks or before the school day begins.

“He comes in at 8:00 a.m. to help us out, but he is not getting paid to be there at eight and it’s because we need that extra help because our class is so big,” Remy explained.

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(Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

Denaya Neudork is a grade 10 and has also been exposed to large class sizes.

“One class I walked into late and there were not enough desks left,” she said.

Neudorf also stressed concerns related to students losing out on extracurriculars, which are in many cases looked after or coached by the teachers.

“It just shows how much the teachers do to support the students and they don’t get enough for what they do,” she said.

Zoey Korecki is a grade 5 student from St. Louis and acknowledged she does not like it when school gets cancelled, but added she knows it’s because her teacher needs help in the classroom.

“There’s a lot of kids and I have a lot of EA’s but not enough,” she said.

(Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

The rally on Thursday marked the third of its kind in three weeks and appeared to have the biggest turn out. This was acknowledged by Jean-Marc Belliveau, who is the president of the Prince Albert and Area Teacher’s Association

“It’s a fantastic day today,” he said.

And with no agreement in sight, and negotiations at a standstill, Belliveau acknowledged the frustration being felt by his colleagues. He also expressed his own dismay with the government refusing to discuss issues related to class sizes and complexity.

“Plenty of provinces throughout Canada have addressed classroom complexity and classroom caps so it is possible, it’s not something new that exists. They are choosing not to address it.”

Other areas of the province affected by strike action on Thursday, were Humboldt and the Battlefords.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

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