Ontario enlists teacher candidates for supply jobs to address COVID-19 shortages, absenteeism

By The Canadian Press, News Staff

Ontario says it will allow students in teacher-education programs to work in supply positions this year.

The province says it is making the temporary change to its teacher certification program to address educator shortages and absenteeism due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We need to be creative,” Minister of Education Stephen Lecce said Monday.  “This is an important measure that will benefit students in schools across the province and provide valuable work experience for the future leaders in our education system.”

The teacher candidates must be enrolled in a current program and have successfully completed a portion of it.

They must also be scheduled to complete the program by Dec. 31, 2021.

The province says the temporary certificate changes will expire at the end of the year.

It hopes the changes will mean up to 2,000 additional supply teachers will be available for positions across the province.

Lecce added that the province will provide masks to students in grades 1-3 after making mask use mandatory for those grades.

“We’ve already procured 3.5 million masks … school boards have them.”

 

EDU Tech Briefing Feb2 by CityNewsToronto on Scribd

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today