There are fewer Educational assistants in the province than there were three years ago, says Trent Wotherspoon of the Saskatchewan NDP, and his party wants to see a reversal of that trend.
In a recent interview with The News Review, Wotherspoon said that the value of an educational assistant is seen in all aspects of classroom life, and a lack of them in Saskatchewan schools represents a blow to education in the province. Educational assistants are charged with giving students with unique learning needs one-on-one attention, and Wotherspoon says that without that attention, it makes it more difficult for the teacher to teach all students.
"We know the importance of an educational assistant to a student with intensive needs, to a student with English as an additional language, but it impacts all students because it's pulling teachers in all directions when they don't have those supports in the classroom," Wotherspoon says.
The Good Spirit School Division has seen a large cut in the number of Educational assistants, says Wotherspoon. He says that in 2007-8 there were 142 Educational assistants, and there are currently 101. The division itself has grown in that time, and Wotherspoon says that this was due to a government directive to reduce the number of Educational assistants throughout the province.
"We're calling on the government to restore the role of Educational assistants in the classroom. We know that the cuts have occurred right across the province."
The position is not an expensive one, he suggests, as many Educational assistants are part time workers. He says that the money spent is an investment in the future and the students.
"To cut that investment in our classroom is detrimental and harmful to students right across this province."
Wotherspoon says that students and teachers are telling him that there is strain in the classroom due to the decrease in Educational assistants, and he says that it is time to increase investment in the position in the province's classrooms.
"We're calling on the government to step up to the plate, to recognize when you have a growing population you need the resources to bear as well, and in this case that means restoring the role of Educational assistants and bringing more Educational assistants into service."
