Ukrainian newcomers in Sask. face months-long waitlist for English language classes

The war in Ukraine has continued for more than two years now. According to estimates by the United Nations, that’s left more than six and a half million people displaced. More than 7000 of those Ukrainians have found a home in Saskatchewan, but they say the settlement services haven’t kept pace. That’s specifically true when it comes to English classes. I’m sitting in our classroom where we teach English classes to the newcomers, right? But as you can see, it’s empty today in the afternoon. So it could be filled with students today and they could take the class right now. It would help if the community came together and volunteered. The province requires newcomers to give an English test. A person can only enroll for an English class once they have the test results, but getting a test could be a challenge. There’s a wait list for those two, I heard that. Hiring managers look at the level of English but. For example, if I fail so it will be quite hard to wait like 5 months to start my classes and improve my English. The Saskatchewan Intercultural Association holds English classes at 29 different locations in Saskatoon. This is more than 70 long The average wait time is 2 to three months, but some people wait more than four months. The group’s language coordinator says the backlog could have far reaching implications. If they don’t know English, they can get driving license. They can’t. They can’t even address their basic needs in Canada. So English learning, especially for lower English, is like lower levels. It’s very essential to even address their basic settlement need. Asked about the months long wait list, the provincial government said it’s working with local service providers to align funding with demand. Shlok Talati, CBC News, Regina.