Philippine Asian News Today Vol 20 no 19 | Page 16

16
Union win ... from P14
“Chilliwack is not the only district
that could have hired more teachers
and chose not to,” Hansman noted.
“Hundreds more people applied for
positions and some districts didn’t
hire them, or even interview.”
Ever since the Supreme Court ruling,
the BCTF has urged government to
act. The previous Liberal government
put $50 million toward teacher
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY October 1 - 15, 2018
recruitment in January 2017, and a
further $2 million for rural and remote
districts later that spring. However,
many districts, including Chilliwack, did
not take advantage of all the available
funding to help jumpstart hiring, and
passed over certified teachers they
could have hired, so the problem
persisted into the 2017–18 school
year. The BCTF has repeatedly raised
concerns with Education Minister
Rob Fleming about the persistence
of the failure-to-fill problem and the
impact on students, especially those
with special needs. Minister Fleming
appointed a ministerial Task Force on
Immediate Recruitment and Retention
Challenges, which reported back
in December 2017, but only some
of its recommendations have been
implemented. Meanwhile, shortage
problems have continued.
Hansman called on the Minister
to implement the remainder of the
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recommendations urgently, and to
direct school districts to ensure that
day-to-day teacher absences are filled
and that students are not deprived of
the specialist services they require.
“It’s now the seventh week of the
school year and there are almost 400
teaching jobs advertised,” Hansman
said. “This shortage was predictable
and avoidable. It must be addressed
immediately.”
(www.bctf.ca
@
NancyKnicker)