The government has announced that Saskatchewan schools will be resuming in-person education for the upcoming 2020-21 school year, meaning students and teachers will be back in classrooms in the fall.
Schools are set to resume as early as Sept. 1, according to most school division calendars, and will be following set safety guidelines provided by public health.
Deputy Premier and education minister Gordon Wyant made the announcement on June 9, noting that officials have reached this decision after watching and evaluating other provinces as they return to classrooms.
Guidelines for the return to in-class learning are still being developed, said Wyant, and will largely depend on the state of the pandemic closer to the fall. Those guidelines are to be provided to school divisions as early as next week.
“There will be a lot of things to give some consideration to as the school divisions start to plan, but the key element is ensuring that we provide a safe learning environment for our children and a safe working environment for staff,” said Wyant. “And so we will be careful to make sure that's the guiding principle as those rules are developed and implemented.”
Social distancing will be less practical for young children, said Wyant during the live stream press conference, and so public health officials will be discussing alternative ways of physical distancing in order to create a safe environment for children and staff.
Suggestions offered by Wyant during the conference included separate entrances to schools, staggered class times, and use of scheduling to reduce physical contact.
“We’re hoping, of course, to have schools fully open, but there will be challenges when it comes to different schools in terms of social distancing, making sure that kids are as distant as possible with regard to the fact that we want to continue to provide that learning,” said Wyant.
The decision comes from the Education Response Planning Team, as well as from the continued public opinions of teachers and parents over the past few months.
“We think that in-class learning is the best way for their children to gain their education, notwithstanding the fact that we’ve had some success with online learning and other delivery models over the last few months,” said Wyant. “I think it's fair to say that parents want their kids back in classrooms and teachers want to be teaching in those classrooms, and I think that’s important from a learning perspective.”
Schools across the province shut down on March 20, as a response to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan, and students have been taking part in distance learning programs for several months.
In addition to creating safety guidelines, the Education Response Planning Team and public health officials will also be working on an alternate delivery plan for parents who have concerns about their child returning to class in-person.
The return to in-classroom education is the set plan as of now, said officials, but there will be contingency plans in place in the event that there is a significant increase of COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan communities.
