Districts looking for teachers outside of province
Posted February 3, 2017 11:35 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
SURREY (NEWS 1130) – Two of BC’s largest school districts are looking outside the province to fill vacancies.
The Surrey School District needs to fill 128 full-time positions, and the district’s Doug Strachan says they’re getting close to filling them all.
“We’ve had applicants who are already working in the district, applicants who are teachers-on-call, and we are actively seeking teachers from outside of BC.”
And that’s because specialist teachers are harder to find.
“We’re still looking for psychologists and speech and language pathologists – those types of teachers. We’ve had a district principal who has been recruiting across Canada, looking to fill those jobs.”
A similar recruitment drive has been underway in Langley – that district is looking for teachers in Alberta.
“This is the first year we’ve had such a shortage of teachers. Langley grew by 600 students this school year alone,” says Wendy Cook with the Langley Teachers Association.
She says districts are competing with each other for the same qualified people.
“There are only so many teachers coming out of universities and teachers’ colleges.”
The Langley School District is looking to hire roughly 40 full-time teachers.
She expects many teachers currently employed in rural BC and at independent schools are applying for the new positions.
