The Saskatchewan NDP is calling for government action to address and clarify the situation for substitute teachers and education assistants.
Education critic, Carla Beck, explains that substitutes and casual staff don’t get paid sick leave, meaning if they contract the virus or if they have to self-isolate because they have possibly been exposed at school, they have no money coming in.
Deborah Bidulka, is a retired teacher who has decided not to be a substitute teacher this year for safety reasons.
Bidulka says in a normal year, 4 or 5 teachers can be off from a school at one time with the flu, so she wonders what the situation will be like this year with COVID-19 in the mix, because there was a shortage of substitute teachers even before the pandemic.
Bidulka is concerned about what might happen to class sizes if substitute teachers and EAs are not available.
She says ensuring smaller classes and having enough EAs and substitutes to keep too many kids from mixing together is the safest way to reopen schools.