By Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, RMG
School District 57, which encompasses Valemount and McBride, is eligible for up to $20,000 in funding from the Ministry of Education and Child Care and the BC Public School Employers’ Association. The funding allows school districts in rural and remote areas to add hiring incentives when recruiting new teachers.
According to Superintendent Jameel Aziz, the District used last year’s $10,000 in funding to give hiring incentives to two rural teachers: one in Valemount, and one in Mackenzie. He hopes this year’s funding will similarly support teachers who want to work in rural areas of the District, he said.
“It’s really important to make sure that we’re recruiting people who want to be in small communities. There are many [teachers] I met in McBride, Valemount and Mackenzie who want to be in that type of community,” Aziz told The Goat. “Teacher recruitment, just like recruitment in healthcare, is becoming an overall challenge. I would say there’s more need than available staff at this particular time, so we’ll continue to do our best.”
An email statement from the Ministry of Education and Child Care echoed Aziz’s comments.
“The Province recognizes that recruitment of education staff remains a challenge, even more so in rural and northern communities,” the statement reads. “Hiring incentives for 58 teachers have been allocated across 16 school districts, with four incentives going to SD57.”
These incentives range from $5,000 to $10,000 for new teachers, according to the statement. The final amount of funding districts receive will be confirmed later in the fall once districts report their successful recruitments to the Province.
Aziz confirmed that SD57 has open positions, which the District is in the process of filling. He doesn’t believe the District has critical staffing shortages, but the District’s precise staffing needs – and which schools teachers will be recruited for – will become more apparent now that school is back in session.
“We have to see how many students arrive to our classrooms to determine whether additional staffing is required,” he said. “But at this point, we don’t have any staffing shortages per se… and we do have applicants for our open positions.”
Having previously worked in other rural areas, such as the Yellowknife Education District, Aziz appreciates the importance of having teachers who are a good fit for small communities. He is thankful for assistance from the Province in recruiting qualified teachers, he said.
“There’s always relocation costs, and young teachers coming out of university may have loans or debt they have to manage,” he said. “Anything the government is willing to do to recruit staff to rural sites is certainly a help.”
