Sask. teachers and province heading back to the bargaining table next week

Provincial negotiators and the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF) are headed back to the bargaining table.

Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill confirmed at a news conference in Saskatoon Friday morning that negotiations will resume next week.

"We'll see them at the bargaining table," Cockrill said. "Everyone at this province wants to come to an agreement."

Cockrill said the school year could be extended, depending on how bargaining goes.

The STF has a news conference scheduled for 10:45 a.m. CST Friday.

Teachers have been operating under work-to-rule job action since Monday.

That means no voluntary services being provided by teachers, no lunch supervision, and teachers beginning their shift 15 minutes before the first bell rings and ending 15 minutes after the last. The end to voluntary services means no sports, drama, music, band, science clubs, intramurals, rehearsals, student leadership activities, planning for graduation celebrations, books fairs, and other clubs and activities.

That left some students frustrated about the lack of extracurriculars.

Teachers began job action in mid-January with one-day provincewide strikes, followed by a series of rotating strikes and withdrawals of voluntary duties.