Teachers today face numerous challenges
Crowd of approximately 2,000 gathers at Legislative Building to raise concerns
Merah Gasmo knew she wanted to be a teacher before she even finished elementary school.
“I grew up playing teacher ... I love helping my classmates out when they have questions, so it’s just what I love to do,” said the Grade 12 Campbell Collegiate student.
But as she looks at the future of the industry she wants to enter into, Gasmo knows there will be challenges. Concerns about school overcrowding and large class sizes continue to dominate current education discussions, along with a push for more classroom resources to help teachers with an increasing number of students with mental health challenges.
“It’s a little bit nerve-racking. I know that when I’m a teacher there will still probably be those same struggles, and even as a student, I see them now. I mean, I’m in classes where there’s 30 plus kids and it is hard,” she said.
“I see how hard (teachers) work for that and I understand the reality that when I’m a teacher, I will likely have to do those same things.”
Large class sizes are her biggest concern and she does not want to see valuable one-on-one time for each student with the teacher lost. She believes being able to build those relationships with teachers is what brought her to where she is today.
Gasmo isn’t the only one with these concerns. On Saturday — World Teacher’s Day — an estimated 2,000 people from across Saskatchewan came together in front of the Legislative Building to celebrate educators, but also to voice their concerns and frustrations (while in Ontario, a potential education workers strike looms as talks have broken down between the union and provincial government). The Saskatchewan crowd included teachers, school staff, parents and students.
Many carried signs calling on the government to invest more in education. “Teacher working conditions are student learning conditions,” read one sign. Another said, “Don’t super size class sizes.”
At the celebration, Gasmo had the chance to thank the province’s teachers for what they do. A number of officials — including Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) president Patrick Maze, Education Minister Gordon Wyant and Saskatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili — also spoke to the crowd.
Wyant took the time to thank teachers for the work they do and for challenging him to make changes on the issues they face in their “growing and diverse classrooms.”
Looking at the challenges of crowded classrooms and overwhelmed teachers, Meili pointed to a lack of funding as the cause.
I know that when I’m a teacher there will still probably be those same struggles.
“It doesn’t have to be this way. The mess that we’re in in education is the result of choices, budget choices,” he said. He called on the province to increase education spending and for more conversation around the idea of a cap on classroom size — an ongoing point of contention between the STF and the provincial government as bargaining on a new contract for teachers continues.
For Cheryl Arcand, principal at Prince Albert’s Westview Public School, gathering with educators and parents from across the province is exciting and reignites her passion for what she does. But she also hopes so many people voicing the same concerns will raise “an awareness of what a classroom is in 2019.”
“It’s just showing that we’re on the same page across the province,” she said.