The second of four Saskatchewan Teacher’s Federation rallies has taken place, this time outside the constituency office of the Honourable Donna Harpauer in Humboldt on Saturday.

Over 200 teachers, parents and community members gathered to call on Finance Minister Harpauer to use her influence over the government’s financial decisions in a way that would address underfunding in public schools.

An STF news release states that in a recent survey of Saskatchewan teachers, 96 percent of participants said that the demands on the teaching profession have increased compared to five years ago, 87 percent said that the complexity of the classroom has increased in the last two years, and 61 percent of teacher respondents said their average class size increased by 5.6 students compared to two years ago.

Despite this, the release says budget cuts and underfunding meant that Saskatchewan saw a decrease of 145 full-time equivalent educators from 2021-22 to 2022-23, while schools also experienced the highest student enrolment growth in 20 years.

A parent of four at the rally, Lyndsay Gabriel, says at school, her children experience a lack of wheelchair accessibility, Educational Assistants, and reduced occupational therapy and speech language pathology visits.

The next rally is planned to be in Saskatoon on October 28th at 1:00pm, outside the office of Minister Paul Merriman.