The minister says the impact of inflation is "relatively small" on the education sector.

The amount of money that the Saskatchewan government does not spend on education is a concern for both the official opposition and the organizations representing teachers in the province.

The provincial budget, released on Wednesday, showed that the budget for the next fiscal year was $3.8 billion, an increase of $47.2 million, or 1.3 percent over the previous year.

Saskatchewan Teachers' Union president Patrick Maze was disappointed by the slight increase.

He said at the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly building on Wednesday after the budget announcement: "You often hear that budgets are a reflection of the organization's values, not just numbers on a page; they represent your values."

"Unfortunately, it seems the government really relies on cutting some education services to cover their expenses."

Patrick said, "The fact that education did not see a significant increase in the provincial budget was frustrating given the fact that the budget was not balanced" and the province still expects a deficit by the end of the fiscal year.

He added, "He would have preferred to see a slightly higher deficit if that meant preparing Saskatchewan students for success in the future."

Patrick and the Teachers' Union were not alone in their frustration with the slight budget increase.

The provincial budget indicated that Saskatchewan's 27 school divisions would see an operational increase of $29.4 million in the 2022-2023 school year.

Although Education Minister Dustin Duncan was not concerned about inflation potentially impacting school divisions.

Duncan said he understands some concerns raised regarding inflation, but the overall costs for the education sector in the province "were not really driven by inflation."

He added on Wednesday, "The things affected by inflation are relatively minor."

"If you look at the fact that our main cost is teachers' salaries, which are fully funded at 2 percent, so that is not really affected by inflation. Some other costs we have within the education sector are not really driven by the issue of inflation."

School boards and the NDP also express their concerns

In a written statement, the Saskatchewan School Boards Association said the increase is not enough to cover the operating expenses of school divisions.

The association's statement said that the school boards have already worked on efficiencies in buildings, transportation, and office procedures, but they said when operational funding increases do not cover inflation, dollars will not be available to invest in services and student support in Saskatchewan.

On his part, association president Shawn Davidson said: "School boards may face tough decisions, again."

Although the association was concerned about the overall budget, it acknowledged that the provincial government had allocated some funds for new schools in Saskatchewan.

The 2022-2023 budget included $95.2 million to build 15 new schools and renovate five schools in Regina, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Lloydminster, Yorkton, Lanigan, Carrot River, La Loche, North Battleford, and Wilcox.

In the same context, Saskatchewan Opposition Leader Ryan Meili and finance critic Trent Wotherspoon highlighted the province’s lack of spending on education in their media remarks on Wednesday.

On the other hand, Meili said the provincial government intends to increase education property tax rates by about 2.6 percent in the next fiscal year, despite the education budget increasing by only 1.3 percent.

Edited by: Dima Abu Khair