A shortage of certified teachers in New Brunswick means many schools are relying on local permit contracts to fill the gap.
These are individuals who have stepped up to teach without the required professional certification or education qualifications.
At least 132 local permit contracts have been issued this school year, according to data provided by three of four anglophone school districts to the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association.
Peter Lagacy, president of the association, said he would hate to see the use of local permit teachers become the norm.
“There is a requirement to learn the pedagogy, to learn how to read a personalized learning plan, how to develop a lesson plan and classroom management. All of those things we learn through our education degree,” Lagacy told reporters on Wednesday.
With around three dozen vacancies still to be filled throughout the anglophone system, the number of local permit teachers could rise even further.
The association is calling on political parties to support a two-fold solution to help retain and recruit certified teachers.
Lagacy said that includes teacher certification reforms that facilitate new pathways to the profession.
“Right now, the certification requirements are fairly rigid. We’re not looking to reduce standards or deprofessionalize the profession, it’s more about providing flexibility for some of those pathways,” he said.
For example, he said, you currently need an undergraduate degree and a Bachelor of Education to become a certified teacher in New Brunswick.
“Are there ways that we can shorten that, to condense that program, not to reduce the standards but to have teachers get into that system faster,” said Lagacy.
In addition, the association wants to see proper onboarding and early career support programs in order to keep educators in the system.
