The Northern Lights School Division had a persistent labour shortage when it comes to teachers. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

finding solutions

NLSD ‘in crisis mode’ due to teacher shortage in northern Sask.

Feb 8, 2023 | 3:53 PM

The Northern Lights School Division is in a state of “crisis” due to a teacher shortage in northern Saskatchewan.

That’s according to director of education Jason Young, who explained the division currently has 14 vacancies in a number of communities. He noted the division, on average, is short 15 teachers every month.

“We are in crisis mode yet again,” Young said. “We have a recruitment/retention plan we pulled together knowing this was a problem for us a few years ago. We are continually trying to implement that plan to address this teacher shortage.”

One source of teachers for the division has been the Dene Teacher Education Program (DTEP) in La Loche, which had 21 graduates in 2020. There will be another surge in the number of teachers this spring as the Cree Teacher Education Program in Cumberland House is expected to have 27 graduates. The Northern Saskatchewan Indigenous Teacher Education Program in La Ronge could have up to 17, as well.

Young stated it’s looking promising the division will be able to hire many of those new teachers.

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“I’m looking to offer them positions and hopefully they move to our other northern communities and serve our students,” he said. “This is a model that works for us. [We] saw that with the DTEP program and the number of hires at both schools in La Loche. It certainly helped prevent a situation that could have been much worse.”

Young also mentioned the division has had to become innovative. For instance, administration launched the Facilitator Plus Model, which utilizes a teacher who comes in remotely to a classroom of students. A teacher’s assistant is present in the classroom to make sure the room is open and ready, as well as welcome the kids.

“In Uranium City, we had that issue this past year. We had to actually temporarily close that school down because we couldn’t find a teacher,” Young said.

“We turned to the Facilitator Plus Model where there was someone in the local community that became a teaching assistant and they were able to provide that support while instruction is being provided online through the edcentre. That’s how we kept that school open.”

The Facilitator Plus Model has also been used at Dene High School in La Loche. Young explained that the school was on the verge of collapse due to vacancies, and online learning with remote teachers prevented that happening.

The model was also used at Kiskahikan School in Weyakwin. Grades only go up to nine there, but five students were able to complete Grade 10 classes and not have to travel to La Ronge or Prince Albert for that education.

“We’ve had teachers down south, one as far away as Ontario, provide that instruction to students and deliver education through that model,” Young said.

“We’d like to have the teacher there in-person, living in the community giving face-to-face instruction, but this is a promising practice we’re seeing that can be developed when we do find ourselves in a situation when we can’t find a certified teacher.”

In the 2021-2022 academic year, the Northern Lights School Division had 270 full-time teachers and 281 educational support staff. In total, the division had 586 full-time staff.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno