Some concerning results are being shared from a survey conducted by the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation.

89 percent of surveyed teachers say they are unable to maintain a two-metre social distance from their students, while 22 percent say they don’t have access to PPE because either the school ran out, or they never received any.

President Patrick Maze says there are still concerns with the back to school plan.

“They are worried about the level of instruction that’s going on in schools, and their ability to keep kids safe in the current context.”

Maze says the lack of access to PPE is something he says is upsetting.

“We don’t know where the virus is going to hit next in the province,” Maze said. “It’s out in rural Saskatchewan and of course lots of cases in Saskatoon recently, and so to hear that 22 percent don’t feel that they’ve received the protective equipment that they require is quite concerning.”

While the Sask. Party is committing to building schools across the province, Maze says that only fixes part of the problem.

“I think a more important component is having more adults in the building; whether that be educational assistants, whether that be maintenance workers, whether that be more teaching staff” Maze said. “That seems to be the big part of the problem right now is that we just don’t have enough people in order to do the work that’s necessary.”

This being World Teachers’ Day, Maze says the province’s teachers are hard at work managing a heavy work load thanks to COVID-19, large class sizes, and a back to school plan that did not address either issue.