The Toronto Star today discusses the increased need for teachers representing minority groups in Ontario schools. With 40% of the population representing visible minorities, and 7 in 10 high school students (at least in the Toronto District School Board) being non-white, school boards are looking to foreign trained teachers to fill the gap.
In booming Peel Region, where the public school board is hiring hand over fist to serve an explosion of new Canadian families, schools need more diverse teachers than universities can churn out, so they’re turning to foreign-trained teachers to fill the gap, said education director Jim Grieve. (The Toronto Star)
That is a confounding statement when one looks at one school in Peel, where for the first time in 20 years, 7 teachers have been declared surplus. In total 57 teachers in the secondary panel have been declared surplus by the school board. They are all contract teachers and have to be placed before anyone new can be hired. In the midst of this ‘hiring boom’ we have 57 surplus teachers who will be placed before any new teachers can be hired.
What gives Jim Grieve? when you say ‘hiring boom’ are you talking about hiring teachers in general, or specifically a hiring boom for foreign trained teachers? The goal of hiring teachers should be to hire the best teachers available, regardless of other considerations. A good teacher can motivate, teach, and connect with students regardless of race or creed.
