While New Brunswick's education system teeters on the precipice of what could generously be called a staffing crisis, Fredericton's schools find themselves caught in an absurdist theater production where the main actors – approximately 1,400 teachers – are planning their grand exit within the next five years.
In a plot twist that surprises absolutely no one, the number of uncertified teachers has pirouetted from 132 to 192 faster than you can say "pedagogical crisis." These educational understudies, bless their untrained hearts, are now starring in classrooms across anglophone districts, teaching subjects they might've learned about on Wikipedia the night before. The shortage has hit STEM subjects particularly hard.
You'd think we'd have learned our lesson from healthcare's starring role in the "Great Staff Shortage Saga," but apparently, we're gluttons for institutional punishment. A whopping 52% of our bachelor of education graduates are performing their teaching talents elsewhere, while international graduates treat New Brunswick like a layover destination, with only 10% sticking around for the encore.
In a desperate attempt to patch the leaking ship, universities are expanding their education programs faster than you can say "band-aid solution." St. Thomas and UNB are each adding 15 seats to their programs, though watching small faculties accommodate larger classes is like watching a chihuahua trying to wear a Great Dane's collar.
The cherry on top of this educational sundae? A task force has been assembled – because nothing says "we're taking this seriously" quite like forming a committee to study the obvious.
Meanwhile, teachers are drowning in paperwork, struggling with inclusion policies that sound magnificent in theory but resemble a three-ring circus in practice, and wondering if their autonomy got lost in the mail alongside their sanity.
As retirement beckons to nearly 1,000 anglophone teachers within three years, the province finds itself starring in its own version of "Waiting for Godot," except instead of waiting for Godot, we're waiting for qualified teachers who might never arrive.
References
- https://halifax.citynews.ca/2024/01/23/retirements-population-rise-create-looming-teacher-shortage-in-new-brunswick-study/
- https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nearly-200-uncertified-teachers-filling-shortage-1.7467299
- https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/teachers-government-recruitment-retention-1.7399781
- https://tj.news/new-brunswick/opinion-a-2025-wish-list-for-educational-change
- https://globalnews.ca/video/11033199/new-brunswick-teachers-association-calls-for-more-support/
