Immigrant teachers in N.S. frustrated by lack of recognition of their training, experience
CBC
Manmeet Oberoi is passionate about teaching and wants to be given a chance to use her skills to benefit students in Nova Scotia.
But she has become frustrated by the amount of time it is taking for her to get a permanent position.
She was the principal of a teacher training college for a decade before she and her family moved to Nova Scotia from India in 2018.
Oberoi has been working as a substitute teacher in Halifax. She said she will have to complete two years of full-term substitute teaching before she qualifies to get a permanent teaching position in the province.
She believes the system in Nova Scotia doesn't take into account her academic qualifications and years of teaching experience in India.
"I cannot live without teaching. How will I survive without teaching? I cannot imagine my life without it," she said.
Oberoi has a masters degrees in zoology and education and a PhD in education from Indian universities.
She said she doesn't understand why her Indian experience is not taken into account when the province is in dire need of teachers.
Oberoi said while there are some cultural and technological differences to teaching in Nova Scotia, the fundamentals are largely the same.
New teachers coming from other countries should be given a short course to bring them up to speed and then be allowed to apply for permanent positions, she said.
Oberoi is not alone in believing that foreign-trained teachers are not being allowed to fully contribute their talents and experience in Nova Scotia.
Jad BouChahine was a coach and physical education teacher in Lebanon when he and his wife moved to Halifax in 2018.
According to BouChahine, he and his wife have the same degrees from the same university in Lebanon. He said in Nova Scotia, she was certified as a teacher and he was granted a conditional certificate that allows him to be a substitute teacher for five years.
He said when he asked for an explanation, he was eventually told that she had applied three months before him and the rules had changed.
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