New teachers say financial obstacles a factor in considering careers in northern Ontario
CBC
What a difference a decade has made in the supply of elementary and secondary school teachers in northeastern Ontario and across Canada.
To find work when there was a shortage of jobs, teachers used to leave the province; now, school boards in the northeast say they have plenty of openings and are developing new recruiting strategies.
As they work to hire permanent teachers, boards say, they're resorting to hiring student teachers on transitional certificates or people without teaching certificates to fill the gap.
In some cases, students have more study halls — what administrators call self-directed learning.
Graydon Raymer, dean of the faculty of education and professional studies for Nipissing University in North Bay, said many factors are contributing to the current teacher shortage.
Raymer cites retirements, in part due to changing conditions in the classroom as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that have cut into the workforce. He also said the switch to a two-year Bachelor of Education (BEd) program has stemmed the flow of new teachers.
Raymer said that in 2011, when the BEd was eight months, Nipissing graduated about 700 students from the program.
He said after Ontario extended the program to two years in 2012-2013, about 400 or so teachers were graduating each year.
While Raymer said fewer teachers are graduating, he's concerned about the quality of the training if the BEd reverts to a one-year program
Raymer said some northern school boards have reached out about their struggles in finding qualified teachers and wonder if Nipissing could educate more of them.
He said the university has responded by providing flexible online learning
That doesn't necessarily mean teachers who graduate from Nipissing and are certified will remain in northern Ontario, Raymer said.
He said it's often difficult to get schools in the north to host students, even though that often leads to them making connections in those communities.
"You know, we face challenges finding those placement positions — finding the schools that have the teachers who have the time and capacity to take on a student to come and work with them in the classroom, and there's just so few spots within our region."
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