Province, school districts should start tracking numbers of uncertified teachers, union says
About 60 uncertified teachers on call this year in Prince George district alone, association says
The head of the B.C. Teachers' Federation says the government should work to track how many uncertified teachers are working across the province.
It comes as thousands of students return to school for the 2023-24 academic year amid concerns of short-staffing and overcrowding.
The province says uncertified teachers are only hired in "unique circumstances" for less than 20 days in the absence of a qualified teacher.
Under the provincial School Act, school boards are allowed to hire teachers that they deem qualified, but do not have a teaching certificate, to fill short-term needs.
Teachers' associations say several factors, including B.C.'s spiraling cost of housing and early retirements during the pandemic, have led to a continued shortfall in qualified teachers across the province.
They're asking for statistics regarding how many uncertified teachers are working across B.C., as well as initiatives to train teachers and help them afford the cost of living.
While job listings on the provincial Make a Future portal can provide an idea of how many teacher positions are unfilled across the province, the B.C. Teachers' Federation is asking for more robust provincewide data.
In addition, there is no publicly available tracker for the number of uncertified teachers on call in B.C.
Clint Johnston, the president of the federation, says the province and school districts should release data on staff shortages and uncertified teachers.
"When you're asking to hire uncertified teachers there publicly, I think that's an indicator of how bad the problem is," he said. "We have no numbers at all on how many teachers we are lacking."
Dozens of uncertified teachers in 1 district
The calls for more data come as Daryl Beauregard, president of the Prince George District Teachers' Association, says about 60 uncertified teachers are on call this year — with over 100 on call in School District 57 last year.
"Especially in our area, central B.C. and the north, we're having to rely upon uncertified folks to teach our classrooms more and more every year," he said. "The further you go north, it gets even worse."
Beauregard says the provincial government has started to pay attention to the issue, which has been raised in the past, but he hasn't seen any concrete action to alleviate staffing shortages.
Beauregard says staffing shortages extend to support positions too.
"We're talking thousands of hours of counsellor time and learning assistance time that should be going to our students in need that aren't getting that help," he said. "That deficit of support is just carrying forward every year."
Province to recognize international credentials
Jatinder Bir, the president of the Surrey Teachers' Association, said that support staff — including librarians and learning support teachers — are often pulled from their daily duties if schools are unable to find someone to cover for an absent teacher.
"You're offloading more stuff onto teachers, and they're not able to keep to the demands," she said. "Who suffers? Well, our students suffer. And students deserve the very best."
A spokesperson for the Surrey School District said that the district had hired uncertified teachers for the upcoming school year but did not say how many of them were on call. The spokesperson said these teachers were new graduates from teaching programs who were awaiting their teaching certificates.
Education Minister Rachna Singh said on Tuesday that the province was aware of ongoing staff shortages, including the use of uncertified teachers.
"We have also introduced more than 250 training seats so that more and more teachers are trained," she told a news conference.
"We are also looking at different strategies — like how we can recognize foreign credentials and make sure that people who move to Canada, who have the training, they can get into the workforce," she added.
The province has also said they are committing $12.5 million to boost teacher recruitment and retention in rural and northern school districts.
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With files from Janella Hamilton, Daybreak North and CBC News Network