Canada's 'unprecedented' teacher shortage crisis

The teacher shortage is at an alarming level - Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Quebec is reporting a shortage of more than 8,500 teachers for the 2023-2024 school year. Of these, nearly 2,000 full-time teaching positions are almost certainly not filled this year.

In New Brunswick, 52% of local education graduates do not choose to stay and teach. In Nunavut, one of the least populated provinces, schools are consistently short of at least 10% of their teachers at the start of this school year, with some schools facing shortages of nearly 30%.

Meanwhile, British Columbia needs to recruit at least 20,000 new teachers and 7,000 new school staff over the next 10 years. This figure is based on "ideal" conditions and does not account for teacher turnover.

Gurpreet Kaur Bains, head of the language department at a high school in Surrey, British Columbia, said teachers use the words "chaotic and stressful" to describe the "teacher shortage" plaguing schools across Canada.

She said that when the number of teachers is low, the pressure on those who are teaching increases, leading to overcrowding. Bains' school has to enlist the librarian, vice principal, or even the principal to teach classes that are short of teachers.

"We're in survival mode and we feel like everyone in the school is being affected," Ms. Bains said.

A classroom in Northern Canada - Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Many schools have to use teachers without qualifications.

Dr. Nathalie Reid, director of the Centre for Childhood Injury Research at the University of Regina (Canada), says the severe shortage is significantly increasing the use of unqualified or underqualified teachers across Canada.

Ms. Reid cited a report from Quebec showing that as many as 30,000 people teaching in Quebec schools between 2020 and 2021 did not have teaching certificates or provisional qualifications.

Meanwhile, Clint Johnston, president of the British Columbia Teachers Federation, said that addressing the teacher shortage is achievable, but it all depends on whether the government commits more… funding.

According to Clint Johnston, government funds should not only be used to increase teachers' salaries but also to improve their working conditions and attract more personnel from other sectors to education.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/khung-hoang-thieu-giao-vien-chua-tung-co-o-canada-20240315150110291.htm