Recruiting Qualified Teachers Will Be More Difficult In The Future, According To Survey

(CTF Office – Ottawa)  Over two-thirds of Canadian school boards expect to have difficulty hiring teachers next year, according to a recent survey conducted by  the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF).  The survey indicates a disturbing trend. Fifty-one per cent of school boards surveyed indicated they found it increasingly difficult over the last four years to attract qualified candidates for full-time teaching positions – especially in the rural areas.

“These recent findings support our growing concerns about the disquieting trends in teacher supply and demand,” said CTF President Marilies Rettig at a CTF-sponsored conference on the demographics of the teaching profession in Ottawa.

“We believe there are a number of factors that affect teacher supply and demand: teacher retirements, job opportunities in teaching compared to other occupations, teacher burnout, a reduction in support services to schools, deteriorating working conditions and a negative public perception of the teaching profession. It is imperative that departments of education, school boards and faculties of education work with us to examine these factors and take action to reverse these trends.”

When asked what are the top three factors contributing to the teacher shortages over next five years, 78 per cent of school boards rated teacher retirement as first, 70 per cent said an increased number of students with special needs and 58 per cent said fewer teacher graduates.

Here are some other key findings of the survey:

• In the last four years, there have been teacher shortages in the fields of general science, chemistry, biology and physics;

• The majority of provinces ranked speech therapists as the teachers most likely to be in short supply;

• The highest concerns about retaining beginning teachers were expressed by NWT school boards (67%) and Ontario school boards (60%);

• Three-quarters of school boards had difficulty attracting substitute teachers in the last school year;

• 100 per cent of school boards in Newfoundland and the Territories expect hiring difficulties in 2001.

“Over the last few years, CTF has taken a number of initiatives on this issue, including research, collecting data and holding this major conference,” explained Ms. Rettig.  “The teacher supply and demand problem goes well beyond Canadian borders and is certainly an issue on the international scene.

“Countries like the United Kingdom and the United States are adopting aggressive recruitment measures to attract qualified teachers in light of their large demand in their schools.”

In light of these findings and data collected so far, CTF is calling for the following measures:

The CTF survey was conducted by Vector Research + Development Inc. between June 8 and July 10, 2000, involving 272 school superintendents and other senior officials in school districts throughout the country. The margin of error is no more than 5.9 per cent (plus or minus) in 19 cases out of 20.