Classes to resume as scheduled in January, Sask. government says

The province is not considering delaying the start of school for Saskatchewan students, according to a spokesperson.

"Practicing preventative measures, such as wearing masks, hand washing, physical distancing, staying home when sick and most importantly, getting vaccinated, have allowed students to safely return to in-school learning," Matthew Glover said in a statement to CTV News.

The holiday break for students in Nova Scotia has been extended in order to allow families to monitor students for COVID-19 symptoms before they return to in-person classes. The Ontario government will decide whether schools will re-open for in-class instruction in January in the next several days.

However, a Saskatoon pediatrician opposes delaying school or moving to online learning.

“As a pediatrician and as a mom, our kids should be our priority. They have suffered so much already in the pandemic," Dr. Ayisha Kurji told CTV News.

She says we should learn from kids' experiences since the start of the pandemic.

“At the beginning, we closed school for the grown-ups - not for kids. Now we know more and we see what the effects are on kids,” she says.

These include high rates of depression, anxiety and eating disorders among youth who were away from the social setting of school last year.

“We have to weigh the plusses and minuses and remember that closing school isn’t the only way we can reduce the COVID spread. If we’re seeing COVID in school, that‘s because we’re seeing high rates in the community. Closing schools is a way to decrease transmission in schools, but it’s not the only way and we also have to think of the downside," she said.

Saskatoon epidemiologist Nazeem Mahajarine on the other hand recommends a "prudent" approach for Saskatchewan in keeping classrooms closed.

“I think we shouldn’t throw our children into the mix if COVID is taking off in this province,” he said.

Kids are not having the booster shot and most kids haven’t even had a second vaccine dose, which is a concern, he said.

NDP leader Ryan Meili said Tuesday that he would like to see in-person learning continue and wants social gatherings curtailed leading up to the start of school in January to ensure that happens.

“We should not be sacrificing in-person learning for big parties at New Year's, as much as everyone loves a big party at New Year's. That’s not the priority right now. It’s keeping people safe and protecting our ability to send kids back to school,” Meili told CTV News.

With files from CTV News