Today, the provincial government announced changes to Ontario’s teacher education program. These changes will not fully address the teacher retention and recruitment crisis in this province. 

“While reducing teacher education programs to one year may make it easier for people to enter the profession, easing some recruitment challenges, it does nothing to confront the real crisis driving educators out of Ontario’s classrooms: the chronic underfunding of the system by the Ford government,” said Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) President David Mastin. 

A recent Ontario Teachers’ Federation (OTF) report highlights that teachers are leaving the profession at alarming rates, particularly within their first five years. Although thousands of qualified teachers exist, many are choosing not to work in schools because of deteriorating working conditions caused by years of provincial underfunding:

• large and increasingly complex class sizes
• rising violence in schools
• inadequate resources and staffing, leaving students with unmet needs and teachers without the tools they need to support learning and well-being
• unsustainable workloads and job instability

Adds Mastin, “These are not abstract concerns; they are daily realities in classrooms across the province and the direct result of this Conservative government’s reckless decisions. Without meaningful action and investment that addresses these pressures, the retention and recruitment crisis will only intensify.” Recommendations are outlined in OTF’s report. 

ETFO represents approximately 84,000 members, including public elementary teachers, occasional teachers, designated early childhood educators, education support personnel, and professional support personnel. Visit BuildingBetterSchools.ca.