B.C. union says teacher shortage is getting worse

There is a warning some schools in B.C. may not be able to open classrooms at the start of the school year because of the ongoing teacher shortage.

The BC Teachers’ Federation says the number of teacher vacancies across the province is “a little bit worse” than last year.

“Unfortunately, we still can’t discuss numbers because nobody is tracking those numbers accurately,” BCTF President Clint Johnston told CityNews.

“We know it’s getting worse for our members. We did a survey last year amongst our membership that told us that a high percentage feel like they had a larger workload and were more directly affected by the shortage last year.”

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Johnston says if he had to give an estimate, he would say there are “hundreds at a minimum, but I would suggest we’re talking thousands” of vacancies.

He adds that in some rural and remote districts in B.C., the union is concerned about being able to open classrooms or schools due to a lack of teachers and other staff.

“Depending on where you are across the province, it might mean your district is struggling to function or that children are losing essential services they should be getting.”

Johnston tells CityNews that when there is a shortage of teachers, filling absences becomes much more difficult.

“Often the people taken to backfill those are what we call non-enrolling specialists. Those are your teachers who are doing learning support for students who really need it, or the librarians — all those things that make a well-rounded education and ensure that every student can succeed. They are often the first to go.”

With the new school year looming, the BCTF is calling on the provincial government to do more to attract and retain teachers.

“Certainly there are some monetary incentives and different districts are trying different things and that is obviously helpful. But the reality is if you don’t address some of those foundational concerns, the workload concerns, the working conditions, you can draw more people in but they are not any more likely to stay than those already here.”

Johnston says B.C. needs to make teaching a career that remains sustainable for 30 to 35 years.

“The shortage we’re talking about is a nationwide issue, it’s international. Solutions are not going to come from drawing people from other jurisdictions.

“Quebec just published their own numbers and they are 8,500 teachers short. You’re not going to draw teachers from across Canada and suddenly fix our problem. These are foundational issues we have to address.”