In wake of substitute teacher shortage, Manitoba school divisions are hiring uncertified teachers
Some rural Manitoba school divisions are advertising substitute teaching positions where a teaching degree or certificate is not required in an attempt to address a shortfall.
Sunrise School Division and Brandon School Division are two divisions that have posted jobs online looking for substitute teachers. In Sunrise’s posting, the division states they are “Looking for people with a variety of skills and backgrounds who are willing to work with students.”
Later in the application, it states that “a teaching degree is not required to pursue this opportunity.” A current criminal record check and child abuse registry check are required for the positions.
Cathy Tymko, superintendent of the division, says they look for fully certified teachers, but notes there is a shortage.
“Our top priority is finding certified teachers for classrooms. Our second priority is looking for people who have a limited teaching permit. And then in the absence of those first two, we are looking for folks that have either combinations of experience, or potentially a degree in an area that might help them be able to lend to a classroom,” she said. “We call them non-certified teachers, and they are coming in as a substitute to deliver planned lessons or a designed teaching that a certified teacher has prepared for them.”
Limited teaching permits are typically given to education students in the final year of their degree to teach when they aren’t in class.
Tymko said the process has always been in place in the division, and they want to hire certified teachers first as substitutes before going to limited teaching permits and non-certified teachers. She said situations such as retirements and changes in the workforce following the pandemic have lead to shortages on the division’s substitute teacher list.
The Brandon School Division has also seen a shortage of substitute teachers.
Superintendent Mathew Gustafson said in November 2021, the division had 161 teachers. It saw an increase in 2022 to 211, but he said there is still a shortage.
“It's probably the same trend that other industries and occupations and professions are seeing, that there is a shortage of labour in different industries, and education isn't exempt from that,” he said.
For the Brandon School Division, applications are open for uncertified substitute teachers, with the division saying it will apply for a limited teaching certificate on behalf of the applicant if they don’t have one.
“We've worked with different community organizations to try to present the number of opportunities that might exist for people moving into the community,” Gustafson said. “We've looked at trying to find different ways of getting our information out around postings. And then trying to increase the number of limited teaching permits.”
Gustafson said ideally, they want to hire certified teachers as substitutes before going to people with limited permits or uncertified teachers.
Wayne Ewasko, Manitoba’s minister of education, said the province has been working closely with education partners to address the shortage.
He added he applauds the school divisions for thinking “outside the box.”
“We’re working with (school boards) on different things on what we can do to not only retain but also to recruit (teachers). I know also that we’ve been working with other departments in government to then talk about our post-secondary partners on how we can get more educators into the system and more seats,” Ewasko said in an interview with CTV News Winnipeg.
The minister noted they are also working to recognize the qualifications of people from other countries or provinces to see if they can also get into the school system.
-With files from CTV News’ Devon McKendrick.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Attack on prison van in France kills 2 officers, inmate escapes
Armed assailants killed two French prison officers and seriously wounded three others in an attack on a convoy in Normandy on Tuesday and an inmate escaped, officials said.
Maximum payout for LifeLabs class-action drops from $150 estimate to $7.86
Canadian LifeLabs customers who filed an application for a class-action settlement began receiving their payments this week, though at a much lower amount than initially expected.
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence for 10 years under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
$1.6B parts plant for Honda electric vehicle batteries coming to Niagara Region
A Japanese company has announced it will build an approximately $1.6-billion plant in Ontario's Niagara Region that will make a key electric vehicle battery component as part of Honda's supply chain in the province.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Manitoba premier to visit areas impacted by wildfire
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will get a close-up look at the devastation from a large wildfire burning in northern Manitoba Tuesday.