The President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers’ Association says government needs to develop a strategy for how to address teacher shortages in rural parts of the province.
The provincial government is currently dealing with the fallout of teacher shortages at Peacock Primary in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, where the principal resigned over staffing issues.
The provincial government says a hiring process is underway to fill those gaps.
Peacock Primary in Happy Valley-Goose Bay (Google Maps)
Dale Lambe acknowledges the work, but says retired teachers are being recruited into the positions – which is a “band-aid solution.”
Which is why, he states, a plan needs to be developed to address shortages in rural areas.
He uses housing as an example of an issue such a plan could address.
He says the strategy needs to be “thinking outside the box,” and if housing, for example, is unaffordable they need to find ways to make it more accessible. That we, he says young teachers will go to those communities and set their roots down.
