Canada Reports Teacher Shortages And Low Attendance
Aside from the United States, Canada also has a shortage of teachers. According to the annual report by Languages Canada, the country struggles to address the demand for teachers in 2021. The main reason for such is the financial pressures felt severely by aspiring teachers. The salaries may have increased but almost all costs of necessities have increased also.
The report states that 1 in 5 schools have difficulties in hiring qualified teachers. This challenge stems from the vast difference between the salary expectations and the school tasks demanded. Along with that shortage is the low student attendance count. These unfortunate circumstances are some of the negative impacts of the recent COVID-19 pandemic.
Among the educational sectors involved, the English and French language programs are two of those being greatly affected. In 2021, there were only 57,423 students enrolled, wherein 52,754 studied English while the remaining studied French. That number is only a third of the number in 2019. In 2021, 51 percent of the academic weeks were delivered entirely online.
The public school sector has experienced the greatest decline, with a 28.4 percent decrease in student enrollment from 2020. Meanwhile, the private school sector only experienced a 5 percent drop. Many public schools deemed that the English and French language programs are non-essential in a virtual set-up for formal education.
On the bright side, there is still hope for recovery. Canada is still the top destination for hopeful students of English and French language programs in 2022. In 2019, Canada accommodated only 12 percent of the total number. Fortunately, that number has risen to 17 percent in 2020.