Education Minister Rob Fleming claims the NDP government has filled 90% of the 3,500 open teacher positions in the province.
The BC Teachers Federation (BCTF), however, says there’s still a shortage given the current flu season and a lack of teachers on-call.
.@Rob_Fleming responds to #BCTF case of teacher shortage; “We’ve completed 90% of the hiring for 3,500 new positions across BC” | #CityOfPG pic.twitter.com/Bq6DMvLJwE
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) October 13, 2017
Fleming believes the situation is settling out.
“We do realize that the government needs to help districts identify teachers on call, but considering we have achieved the single largest hiring in generations, British Columbians are pretty happy with where things are at. Even remote and rural school districts have announced that they’ve completed their hirings.”
For current instructors needing to work double the classrooms and/or subjects than initially assigned, Fleming suggests using the provided support by a local district.
“There are resources in the school system specifically for that, and I think that districts that want to allocate more professional development time and in discussion with their teachers associations, that’s something to be supported for sure. I think there’s also a lot of learning resources out there that are becoming available.”
.@Rob_Fleming: Released FSA data is to find out which supports are needed; “important to show parents how kids are doing” | #CityOfPG #bced pic.twitter.com/pWaYz9BkjE
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) October 13, 2017
He adds there are still plenty of job openings and people should consider working in the North.
The MLA for Victoria-Swan Lake made his comments while visiting Prince George on Thursday to officially declare October as Library Month for the city.
.@Rob_Fleming visits @pg_library to recognize October as #LibraryLiteracyMonth | #CityOfPG #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/StujtrmmIl
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) October 12, 2017
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