Scramble on to fill dozens of teacher vacancies as new school year kicks into gear
Nearly 30 openings in Labrador while nearly 250 educators retire annually
As Newfoundland and Labrador students return to class for the new school year, the province — along with much of Canada — is still staring down a human resource problem with educators.
As of last week, there were 29 vacant teaching positions in Labrador alone as of last week. Education Minister Krista Lynn Howell told CBC News those are "day-to-day numbers" and constantly changing.
"Our staff have been working over the weekend to try and fill some of those positions. They're at various stages of appointments," Howell said Wednesday. The government is working on a recruitment and retention plan with the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association, said the minister.
Howell said the focus heading into this year was on filling jobs in regions that are typically difficult to keep staff, like parts of Labrador. That focus was successful, she said, but there are still some vacancies remaining.
"Some of the things are still sifting through as the first week unfolds and [I'm] hoping to have more teachers allocated by the end of the week," Howell said.
Compounding the challenge are the nearly 250 educators who retire annually in the province.
"That's a number that we work really hard to fill and we've been working with Memorial University on their programming. We've been working with the NLTA to see what it is we can do to address some of that," Howell said.
"We continue to work on that. It's not something that we're going to solve overnight."
Howell also said she's open to having conversations on sharing responsibility with school principals for hiring decisions.
Subs also missing
It's not only full-time teaching positions that are having difficulty being filled right now.
NLTA president Trent Langdon said there's also a shortage of substitutes.
Watch: NLTA president Trent Langdon explains the 'strain on system' caused by a sub teacher shortage
"In Corner Brook, at the end of the last year, certain schools are short 10 substitute teachers, which means the allotment of teachers at any given time is down 10," Langdon said Wednesday.
"If the schools are open, the schools are open and people presume everything is cool. But if an emergency room shuts down in the health-care system it's obvious the service is not available there, it can't continue running."
Langdon said a lot of kids are struggling and over the course of the next few days the strains on the greater education system will be evident.
He said the provincial government needs a long-term vision for the system.
"I keep hearing government talk about about a transformation of education and it sounds good, and I'd be all over that," he said.
"But those service need to continue because if we ultimately can get people through adolescence and through the rough teenage years, up to that point generally we can get them on a good path."
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With files from Anthony Germain, Adam Walsh and Labrador Morning
