As COVID cases rise, NDP calls for more supports in schools

The NDP once again is criticizing the Saskatchewan Party government’s response to COVID-19 in schools.

Since the plan was revealed this summer, the opposition has consistently criticized the government’s approach, often calling it the worst back-to-school plan in Canada.

As cases of the virus continue to rise across the province, the NDP is reiterating its call for change in education.

For one, it thinks more money should be spent on reducing class sizes, both to reduce the spread of COVID and lighten the load for teachers.

As for how that would be achieved, Education Critic Carla Beck has a few ideas.

“This is the time to be creative and collaborative with solutions that might look at spaces outside of schools (or) a hybrid model with online teaching, but all of those things need to be supported. They need to be planned for …,” she said during a media conference Monday.

“There are solutions here to be had. They need to be funded, they need to be transparent and, increasingly so, they need to be timely. We don’t want to see increased transmission in our schools.”

Beck didn’t commit to an exact dollar amount she would like to see spent, but did mention a few sources of potential funding.

She believes that the approximately $38 million left in federal money committed to back-to-school support in Saskatchewan from this summer should all go to reducing class sizes, and that the province should dip further into the provincial COVID contingency fund.

“(It’s) enough (money) to keep rampant transmission from happening in our schools and enough to keep our health-care system from closing down, because that would be infinitely more expensive than these measures right now to reduce transmission in our schools,” she said.

Cutting class sizes isn’t the only measure she would like to see implemented.

For instance, Beck is concerned about what happens to young children who have to isolate and stay at home after coming in contact with someone who has COVID.

“There are children isolating around the province right now, you know, 10-year-olds in their basements who are isolating on their own. We want to see some co-ordination with employers and direction from the provincial government to support those parents who do need to stay home,” she said.

That, Beck said, could be achieved by making sure employers give parents the option to work remotely when their kids can’t be in the classroom.

While her party has consistently criticized the return to schools in the COVID era, Beck believes the recent spike in cases highlights the importance of making changes.

“We really think it’s important to draw attention to the measures that ought to have been in place all along and really need to be in place now as we see the second wave,” she concluded.