SASKATOON -- One in five respondents to a survey of education support workers in the province say they have lost time away from work due to workplace violence.

"I have been off work for five weeks now because of the violence I deal with on a daily basis at school. It was mentally too much, and I needed to take a stress leave. I have lost pay because of this," one respondent said.

The survey was conducted by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) which represents more than 7,000 support workers in the province's education sector, such as education assistants, secretaries, caretakers and bus drivers, with 1,026 responding to the survey this spring.

The most common forms of violence experienced by respondents in the last three years were being yelled or sworn at (71.2 per cent), hit with a hand or foot (47.7 per cent), scratched (41.4 per cent), emotionally abused (40.4 per cent), struck with or having an object thrown at them (40.3 per cent) and being shoved or pushed (39.6 per cent.)

CUPE released the results of the survey on Tuesday.

The union made seven recommendations, including more cash from the province to hire more educational assistants in order to provide professional development for educational assistants who work with intensive needs students.

Many safety concerns were linked to wider societal problems, CUPE said in its report.

"I personally feel completely powerless to create change, as do many of my co-workers, so we put up with it and trudge along," a respondent said.

"We have lost all control in our school - a school where drugs are smoked in the bathrooms and halls, students are severely impaired by drugs and allowed to sleep it off at school instead of being sent home; and fighting and police visits are a regular occurrence."

"Our school is a melting pot of circumstances that leave us all very vulnerable to violence and mental health issues."

CUPE said in its report that it does not blame students for the violence increasingly faced by its members.

"School division employers, with appropriate funding from the provincial government, must ensure the proper supports and resources, staffing, and plans are in place to help students succeed and ensure the safety of education support workers.

"Only by better understanding and addressing the root causes of the violence can we more effectively prevent violence in our schools," the report said.

Carla Beck said in Question Period Tuesday afternoon that the violence was a product of understaffing and overcrowding and has gotten worse as a result of cuts to per student funding.

Education Minister Gord Wyant responded that he and Attorney General Don Morgan had met with CUPE to discuss the recommendations and information in the report, and a further meeting was scheduled.

"Some of the numbers that have been provided to us in this report are very concerning and both the Attorney General and I acknowledged that this morning in our meeting," Wyant said.

"We've already acknowledged that we're going to continue to have conversations not just with the authors of the report but out other partners in education … to make sure we address this very serious issue."