Sask. teachers concerned about provincial online learning revamp

Six weeks have passed since the province announced its plan to create a Crown corporation that will centralize online learning in Saskatchewan and there still are no details on what that will look like.

Samantha Becotte, the president of the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation, said Tuesday she has more questions than answers on the subject.

Having heard lots of questions from teachers, Becotte said a well-run and well-thought-out system will be needed to make this work — something she isn’t convinced can be done in the province’s timeline.

Becotte said she has seen schools built before under aggressive, unattainable timelines with near chaos as the result, leaving students stranded in the process.

“This is an entire system that is going to be created in less than a year,” Becotte said, noting there isn’t even an online distance learning policy in place from the government.

Another big question is how the centralization of online learning will work.

“Teachers are members of their communities and they know their students and they know their diversity,” Becotte said.

Removing that diversity causes concern for teachers and their communities. Barriers could also impact students in engaging with their online school system, including accessible technology and unreliable internet.

Becotte also doesn’t know how a Crown corporation for education will work. She said she doesn’t understand why there is a need for a Crown corporation to deliver the online system in the first place, given that school divisions have online education systems in place already that could be expanded to schools and areas that do not.

Further, Becotte inquired what a CEO of education would look like and whether the board of the corporation would be elected or appointed in this process.

The STF president said the overriding concern is that the province will not get this process right, in large part because there has been no plan described to consult with teachers, parents, students and other educational stakeholders who could fruitfully contribute to the creation of a centralized system.

A feeling that the province is jumping into this process quickly without outlined expectations and hopes or an indicator of how the system will be overseen has left Becotte uneasy, and she has heard further worries from STF members about their employment after the new system is put in place.

Becotte said two letters have been sent to the Ministry of Education — one from all educational stakeholders sent collectively and one detailing specific concerns of teachers. So far, the only reply has indicated a future response. There have been no further opportunities for engagement beyond those letters, Becotte said.

With the COVID-19 pandemic still fresh in the minds of teachers and students — along with the memory of disjointed and disrupted online learning transitions — Becotte asked that the province meet with teachers, students, parents and educational stakeholders and delay its announced timeline to ensure the process is done correctly.

“Our students deserve the best,” she said. “We don’t want to build a plane in the air.

“We need a clearly thought-out policy on distance learning and we need there to be consultation with education stakeholders.”