Alberta teachers, principals burning out from responding to crises with little support: report
CBC
Alberta teachers and administrators are overwhelmed and burning out due to increasing numbers of students with complex needs and inadequate resources for schools to meet them, says a report from a government-appointed action team released on Friday.
Premier Danielle Smith and Minister of Education and Childcare Demetrios Nicolaides spoke at a news conference Friday when the report from the "aggression and complexity in schools action team" was released.
"Teachers have to wear multiple hats today," Nicolaides said.
"They have to be teachers, translators, interpreters, clinical professionals, therapeutic experts. That's just not realistic."
A 25-member team of school trustees, superintendents and other education stakeholders says children's unmet health, social and behavioural needs are overwhelming school staff and exacerbating challenges of growing class sizes.
The issue of complexity and aggression in classrooms was a central issue in the recent provincewide teacher strike.
"I am confident this report gives us a clear path to tackle the challenges facing our classrooms," said Nicolaides.
Among the report's recommendations are making half-day kindergarten mandatory in Alberta, expanding program unit funding (PUF) for young students with disabilities back to include Grade 1 and less profoundly disabled children, and reducing student-teacher ratios.
Smith and Nicolaides did not immediately commit to acting on any recommendations, saying a new cabinet committee will take classroom level data from schools and decide as early as January where to allocate new funding.
"Complexity and class sizes are very challenging issues," said Nicolaides, adding that solutions will take time.
Smith said some of insights from the report have already been implemented, including the recommendation for cross-ministry collaboration.
More to come.
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