P.E.I. teachers' union concerned about lack of subs for French classes

The union representing Prince Edward Island public school teachers says the current lack of substitutes, particularly those who can teach in French, is causing challenges in classrooms. 

The P.E.I. Teachers' Federation (PEITF) says if not dealt with, the shortage could lead to the kind of dire situations happening in some other provinces, such as schools cancelling classes. 

"We're scared that because of the shortage in the rest of the country, it's going to be even more difficult to recruit in the future," said Andy Doran, president of the PEITF. 

He said the lack of qualified substitute teachers has been an issue for a while but is getting worse, particularly for French immersion and French first-language classes. 

The substitute shortage is particularly affecting the West Prince area of the province, Doran said. 

The result is that if a school can't find a qualified substitute, a principal or administrator may cover the class, or an uncertified community member may come in. 

"They're doing what they can, but unfortunately that affects the learning that's going on in the classroom," Doran said. 

In 2022, coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the province changed its rules so that only one year of post-secondary education — as opposed to two — is needed to become an uncertified substitute on P.E.I. 

'Improve classroom conditions'

Teachers are tired, Doran said, and the conditions in classrooms are challenging. 

"We need to improve classroom conditions so that teachers want to be teachers, so that they want to stay here," he said.

"If I was a teacher today and I faced the challenges that they may have — with the violence in the classrooms and the lack of substitute teachers — it would be a challenge for me to get through a day as well."

The issue of substitute teachers made it to the floor of the P.E.I. legislature Friday during question period. 

Liberal MLA Gord McNeilly asked P.E.I.'s education minister whether it was a suitable solution to have uncertified substitutes teaching students.  

"A lot of times we're having to move resource teachers and a lot of times principals are having to go and [teach]," said McNeilly. 

'Need to be planning ahead'

Education Minister Natalie Jameson told CBC News she understands the difficulties facing teachers, and that her department is working on teacher recruitment and retention.

"It's not lost on me that these are challenges that schools are facing and that teachers are facing," Jameson said.

Including uncertified substitute teachers, there are 550 subs in the Public Schools Branch right now and 50 in the Commission Scolaire de Langue Française, she said. 

Jameson said P.E.I. is better-positioned than most jurisdictions in Canada since the province recruited many subs during and just after the pandemic, but she knows the work isn't over. 

"We always need to be planning ahead and that's precisely what we're doing," she said. 

This fall, the province will begin work on a holistic workforce strategy for schools that will include teachers, educational assistants, custodial staff, bus drivers and more, Jameson said. 

She also said the province works with UPEI's faculty of education to get Island students into its programs, particularly the French-language bachelor of education program. 

Doran said the teachers' union has no complaints about the government's current actions, but it wants more future planning to avoid the teacher shortage some Canadian jurisdictions are facing. 

"We want to fix the issues now so that we don't face that in the future," he said.

The PEITF's contract expires at the end of August, so the union will soon be entering collective bargaining with the province.