P.E.I. substitute teacher shortage easing after years of pandemic strain, says PSB
CBC
Like other places in the country, COVID-19 made trying to find enough substitute teachers to fill in the gaps difficult on P.E.I.
But according to the Public Schools Branch, that challenge is finally starting to ease.
"We had one day in November where our absenteeism was over 325 in the teaching category alone, we were able to cover those all off," said Norbert Carpenter, the director of the PSB.
"Now during COVID, we would not have been able to do that without going to a contingency plan."
Staffing challenges are nothing new. Even before the pandemic, concerns were raised about the number of substitute teachers available. Last March, the Green Party also asked the P.E.I. government how it was planning to address staff absences amid the Omicron wave.
"We knew before the pandemic we needed more," said Norbert Carpenter, the director of the PSB. "We were in not the danger zone, but a zone when so many absenteeism were creeping up that we had to do more work on recruitment and retention."
Carpenter said the PSB turned to social media and job fairs to help recruit, which did raise the number "quite substantially."
Last year the regulations also changed, meaning non-certified substitute teachers without an education degree need just one year of post-secondary education — not two.
Since April, the number of uncertified subs jumped from 125 to over 500.
"We did relax it to have less post-secondary, and that allowed us to widen the pool during times of high absenteeism," he said. "That worked, but it's not a long-term solution."
The focus now is finding more certified substitute teachers. Right now, the PSB has about 360.
"We want the best qualified and trained people in front of our children every day, and that's really important," said Carpenter.
"The good news is since September alone this year we had 60 new certified teachers sign up to substitute in our schools."
Carpenter said although it certainly seems like enough, and the PSB is comfortable with the number they do have, it's important "to keep our eye on the ball.
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