By Greg Fry

KTTA applauds Victoria’s plan to address the teacher shortage

Feb 9, 2018 | 1:40 PM

KAMLOOPS — The B.C. government has announced an investment of $571,000 to address the teacher shortage in this province.

Education Minister Rob Fleming says the government will use the money to train more than 100 teachers in the highest demand fields such as special education, French language, secondary math and physics.

Intake for 92 spaces will take place September 2018, while 15 will start in January 2019.

He says the money comes on the heels of a task force appointed to identify challenges districts are facing across the province. 

Kamloops-Thompson Teachers’ Association President Amanda Jensen is pleased the government is taking action.

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“We are really excited that the ministry has listened to what districts have been saying, what the BCTF has been saying, parents have been saying about those specialist teachers and the difficulty that school districts are finding to recruit and retain those folks,” she says, adding shortfalls in those subject areas have also been an issue in School District 73.

“I think it certainly has. And I know that the district has been trying to do a lot of recruitment and retention. Unfortunately though, when we’re in a climate where people can pretty much work anywhere with the number of jobs made available through the Supreme Court win (3,500). And Kamloops is certainly a desirable place but we see people having a pick of places to go and unfortunately we haven’t been successful in recruiting as many people as I think we would like to. And then the issue with retaining those folks.”

Jensen says recruitment challenges have hit the rural areas of the district hardest, including places like the North Thompson, Chase, Barriere and Logan Lake.