Prince Albert's Jayden Bissky (second from right) spoke at a huge rally for Saskatchewan teachers. (Submitted Photo/Jayden Bissky)

By Rob Mahon

PA Speaker At Rally

Former Prince Albert student speaks at massive rally in support of teachers

May 3, 2023 | 12:00 PM

The Saskatchewan Teacher’s Federation were expecting a good show of support at their weekend rally at the Saskatchewan Legislative Building. What they got was a crowd of 3,500 people, and one of the speakers before this crowd was a former Prince Albert high school student.

Jayden Bissky, a graduate of St. Mary High School who is going to graduate from the University of Saskatchewan this spring, was one of the people who addressed the crowd during the rally. She’ll be graduating from the University of Saskatchewan with two bachelor’s degrees, one in political studies and one in international studies.

“It was amazing,” said Bissky. “I had a really unique position because I got to stand up on the stage, but my family members were all in the audience. I could see people as far as I could see, I couldn’t even see all the people from where I was standing.”

Though not a teacher herself, Bissky has numerous family connections to the profession, including her mother, who approached her about speaking at the rally. Between that and a general interest in politics and social justice, she felt it was important to lend her voice to the movement.

“I’ve kind of grown up listening to people talk about being a teacher,” Bissky said. “I think we all know it’s a difficult job, but seeing all the intricacies, the extra time they put in that’s not paid, all the extra things they’re expected to do, it’s a very difficult job.”

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In a release, the STF said the rally was to protest cuts in the education sector and put in more money to help deal with both increasing numbers of students and increasingly complex needs for their education. According to the release that cites numbers from the Ministry of Education, student enrolment increased by 2.1 percent over the last school year, while the number of teachers dropped by one percent.

“Education is a place where we see social change, where we promote things like human rights and equality and justice,” said Bissky. “I think it’s really important to support schools and support teachers.”

Yesterday, the province announced they will be giving more money to schools and educators than they’d initially budgeted. While they said the increase will be in the millions, they did not have an exact dollar figure.

“The most important message I found is the way to support the children of this province and the way to support communities is to support teachers,” Bissky said.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP