Teacher cuts will hurt students, says federation

The P.E.I. Teachers' Federation says cuts can't be made to teaching positions without having a negative impact on Island students.

Federation president Gilles Arsenault met with Education Minister Alan McIsaac Friday afternoon to get more details on the cuts in the province.

Arsenault said the education minister didn't give exact numbers, saying only it would be fewer than 100 positions. Premier Robert Ghiz has said there will be 60 teaching jobs cut over the next three years.

Arsenault said he has been assured the cuts will be made through attrition, but that still creates serious concerns.

"No teachers will lose their job, but still if you are not replacing teachers that are retiring it's still cuts to the system. So that is a problem for the teachers’ federation because we are struggling now to meet all the needs for our students," Arsenault said.

"We don't feel [that] cutting these positions, even though they go through attrition, is a model that we want to follow at this time."