News

The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation was pleased to learn that the Government of Saskatchewan passed amendments to the Pension Benefits Regulations in March that give the Federation more flexibility to manage the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Retirement Plan. The changes will help to provide more stability in member contributions and will make it easier for the Federation to provide benefit increases when the Plan’s funded status allows it.

As students return to class on Monday following the Easter break, the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation is urging increased vigilance in protecting against COVID-19 and its highly contagious variants.

The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation is encouraged by the 2021-22 provincial budget and says it signals public education is a priority. Education was allotted $2.66 billion, a 2.3 percent increase from 2020-21. The Federation says this is a reasonable budget.

In this instalment of Tech Talk, we’ll take a quick look into the world of e-sports. E-sports (electronic sports) is one of the fastest growing competitions in the world. The list of e-sports includes traditional sports video games such as Madden NFL (football), FIFA (soccer) and Y2K (basketball), to fighting games like Super Smash Bros., Fortnite and Call of Duty to strategy games such as Rocket League and League of Legends.

In fact, there are numbers that suggest that e-sports will overtake traditional sports viewership and already involves serious money. There is even a strong chance that one day e-sports will be part of the Olympics. Many colleges in the United States are offering scholarships to e-sports athletes as this competition continues to grow.

So what does that mean for teachers in Saskatchewan? It could mean a great opportunity to connect and offer students another way to get involved (an opportunity that many students might not have the chance to otherwise).

At the time of writing this, COVID-19 variants have been detected in schools in Regina, Moose Jaw, Yorkton, Melville, File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council area and, most recently, Saskatoon.

It is safe to say the third wave is upon us. While vaccines are beginning to be more widely distributed and administered, even those vaccinated are still at risk until they build up immunity, which can take up to three weeks after vaccination.