Northern Sask. schools get creative with distance learning after years of teacher shortages

In Weyakwin, Sask., a northern hamlet of about 100 people, Kiskahikan School has only ever gone up to Grade 9.

After that, students have had to finish their high school education far away from home, moving to La Ronge, Prince Albert, Montreal Lake or even further south.

But this year, some students were able to tackle their Grade 10 classes right in the community.

These six students are doing distance learning, helped and encouraged by an educational assistant in their classroom in Weyakwin while their teacher joins virtually from an online school in La Ronge.

T.J. Hoogstein, principal of Kiskahikan School, said this "facilitator-plus" model has been transformative.

"If it wasn't for this, a lot of these students might not have come back to school," he said. "We have students now, in our Grade 10 program, that have been out of school for a couple of years and are now coming back to finish Grade 10.

"And to see them still being part of the school community is a source of pride, for me. We are able to give them these opportunities."

With more students able to stay in their home communities, Hoogstein said he expects graduation rates will go up, too. 

"Six kids doesn't seem like a lot. But for us, it's big."

'Crisis we're living in': director of education

Kiskahikan School's new Grade 10 class is part of a push by the Northern Lights School Division (NLSD) to keep schools open and expand the educational opportunities available in northern Saskatchewan, even as it struggles to fill a persistent teacher shortage. 

For the past few years, the NLSD has been short an average of 15 teachers out of approximately 300 staff positions at any given time. 

Director of education Jason Young said this is "the crisis we're living in."

Without enough teachers to staff northern classrooms, it's harder for students to recover from the educational impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"The consequences are huge," Young said. "We're coming out of COVID and trying to address some of the learning loss that happened there — but then you multiply that by the years you can't hire teachers who are certified, and education falls further behind. That's a major concern."

The prevalence of remote learning during COVID has also given the school division more options. This year, Grade 10 at Kiskahikan is one of many northern classrooms with no in-person teacher. Instead, the teachers — who may be based as nearby as La Ronge, or as far away as Ontario — join online.

"We're bringing teachers into the classroom remotely, while still having someone in the classroom who may not be certified, but who is a warm, caring adult who can support those kids in class while the instruction is taking place through distance learning," said Young. "It's working out well."

This academic year, the division had been on track to shut down its school in Uranium City, and a portion of the high school in La Loche, for lack of teachers. But with facilitators in the classrooms and teachers joining online, Young said the schools have been able to stay open and give students a quality education.

"It helps ensure that communities can thrive, because parents and students can stay in these northern communities," he said.

Young said the division is focused on long-term strategies to combat the teacher shortage in the future.

This includes supporting and collaborating with programs like the Northern Saskatchewan Indigenous Teacher Education Program (NSITEP), which allows would-be teachers to live, study and graduate in the north. 

"With universities offering their programs in northern communities, it allows northerners to not have to deal with the barriers of housing, transportation and not having access to supports at home," said Young. "So offering this in the north, in these northern communities, allows folks to stay home and get their educational degrees."

With dozens of new teachers expected to graduate from northern programs in May, Young says this cohort is "a workforce ready to go" for the NLSD. 

"We're making them offers for positions to stay in the north, because they're from the north."

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