Negotiations resume Wednesday between the Ontario government and the elementary teachers’ union, as talks continue with the province’s Catholic and French teachers.

The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association has now completed five days of bargaining.

“The government remains absolutely focused on getting a deal,” Education Minister Stephen Lecce told the legislature on Tuesday.

“That’s why we’re before two of our partners today, the Catholic teachers and French teachers, to get a deal that delivers stability for every member of this province, particularly parents and their children.”

All teacher unions are engaged in job action, but have suspended all one-day strikes until after March Break, if no deals are reached.

“This government needs to come to the table this week to demonstrate their commitment to public education,” said Karen Campbell, first vice-president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, on Monday.

The only union the provincial mediator has not yet called back to negotiations is the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation.

“Absolutely, it is frustrating for my members that we don’t have dates, and we have not seen a willingness from the government to negotiate in good faith with the sort of flexibility required to get a tentative agreement,” said President Harvey Bischof.

The Ontario government initially proposed boosting high school class sizes to an average of 28 from last year’s 22, but Lecce recently announced an average of 23 for the duration of any contract it signs with teachers.

The province is also looking to introduce two mandatory e-learning courses, but with a more flexible opt-out option.

But Bischof said what the government has announced “is not where the deal lies ... what the minister has proposed is inadequate in terms of safeguarding the quality of education.”

He said for his union alone, going from an average of 22 to 23, plus other funding losses, equals 1,800 lost jobs.

Premier Doug Ford, speaking at a transportation announcement in Scarborough early Tuesday, said “we just want to make sure that our children get back into the classroom.”