By Tanya Cronin

District 73 feeling shortage of French qualified teachers-on-call

Apr 3, 2018 | 4:36 PM

KAMLOOPS — With a surge in demand, right now in Canada it’s a good time to be a French teacher.

High demand for French immersion has contributed to a shortage in French teachers across the country. In B.C. the problem has become so desperate, the education ministry is taking its recruitment effort overseas to Europe. This year the Kamloops-Thompson School District has a sufficient number of French teachers, but is running short for teachers ‘on call’. 

“We only have about eleven qualified teachers-on-call who are French immersion qualified and right now they might not even be available for a French immersion class, so that’s where sometimes students don’t have a French immersion teacher to substitute if their teacher is away, so that’s our biggest challenge right now,” says Shayne Olsen, District 73 Associate Superintendent of Human Resources. “We certainly could use some more, I know the government has increased some funding for UBC and SFU to increase the number of seats available for French education which is wonderful as well.”

Traditionally, the province has recruited French teachers from Quebec, but now the teacher shortage has become a national issue. District 73 says because the pool has shrunk in Canada, they are looking abroad to fill short-term needs.

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“We expect that they’ll be well-trained, we of course in the province are undergoing a new curriculum that’s being put in place, we want them to all be ready to learn that curriculum, B.C. is a leader in education around the world, we’ve been recognized for the great results we’re getting with our students, we want to make sure those teachers coming in are well-qualified, well-trained and supported by the district, but in general I think it’s a good thing to look outside,” says Olsen.