Education Minister Jeanie McLean and the education system in general face a number of issues heading into the 2022-2023 school year, the Yukon Party said Thursday.

“The early results show many of those are getting worse, with more quickly piling up,” the official Opposition said.

“Some students who arrived to begin the school year found they did not have a teacher and were sent home.

“Other students discovered an educational assistant at the head of the classroom, leaving vulnerable students without the supports they require,” the party added.

“Communication with the public has been an ongoing area needing improvement by the minister – and unfortunately, after 16 months, the minister continues to fall behind expectations.”

That “poor record,” the YP said, “has crept into some schools themselves, as technical issues have resulted in their phone systems not working to begin the year.

“This is problematic in the case of an emergency where a parent needs to reach their child in a timely manner.”

Education critic Scott Kent said it has been “a rocky start to the year for some students, as well as the minister.

“The minister has been noticeably absent for the better part of the summer instead of showing leadership and making sure these issues were resolved prior to the start of school.

“The minister should be communicating with the Yukon Association of Education Professionals as well as school communities, to outline how and when these issues will be addressed so students, teachers and parents can focus on the education of children.”

In a statement released this morning, cabinet communications staff called the official Opposition’s comments “the kind of uniformed, speculative and personal attack we see too often from the Yukon Party and that which results in many capable people opting to stay out of public life.

“This has been a busy summer with much work to prepare the new First Nation School Board and all Yukon schools for another school year,” the statement said.

“We are not aware of any students being sent home from school for lack of available staff.

“Although the Department of Education is still actively recruiting for some teaching positions, plans are in place for coverage in enrolling classrooms.”

The department is recruiting for approximately 20 enrolling teacher positions spread over 32 Yukon schools or alternative learning sites, the statement added.

“There are plans in place to ensure the classrooms that do not yet have a dedicated teacher can continue to support student learning.

“In some situations, these plans include using EAs to temporarily support students until teachers on call can be put in place. This is the case in Carmacks and Pelly, but is not a system-wide occurrence.”

As for the phones, the statement said, “The only issue we are aware of was at Golden Horn Elementary. The land line was down earlier this week, but the voicemail was still working. The land line is now fully functioning.

“The situation did not impact the safety of students, as school administration are equipped with work cell phones and voicemails are checked frequently.”

The department “continue to work closely alongside the very dedicated and hardworking school administration staff to support all Yukon students and their families,” the cabinet statement added.

“There is nothing more important than the success of our students.

“Again, it’s great that the Yukon Party is interested in education issues in our territory now. It would have been better if they had an interest in fixing them during the 14 years they were in government.”