Canada, 15th March: There is an increased demand for French Immersion Teachers in Canada. There has been a shortage of French Immersion teachers around British Columbia(B.C.) and its increasing now.
Increased Demand for French Immersion Teachers in Canada
As per the executive director of BC/Yukon branch of Canadian Parents for French, Glyn Lewis, just one-fifth of the required French immersion teachers in B.C. annually are graduating.
Schools in Canada Struggling to Provide teachers due to Shortage of French Immersion Teachers
As an increased number of Canadian families are showing interest in such programs, there has emerged a new problem for the schools in Canada. They are struggling to cope up with the shortage of French immersion teachers.
Enrollments in French immersion schemes have gone up by 41 percent in the period between 2004-05 and 2014-15.
This has been revealed by Statistics Canada figures. The growing demand for French immersion teachers has compelled school districts to take extra efforts for filling of vacancies.
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Increased Demand for French Immersion Teachers in Canada—Good news for aspiring French teachers willing to Immigrate to Canada
Growing demand for French Immersion teachers in Canada is actually great news for aspiring French teachers.
- If you have fluency in French and can teach French immersion, then great fortune awaits you in Canada. This has been revealed by manager in human resources at London, Ontario’s Thames Valley School District Board, John Cuddle.
- The best part is that there is no waiting period for getting jobs after submission of French immersion application, says district principal of human resources in Surrey, Kevin Fadum. Demand for French immersion teachers is in B.C.’s teacher-on-call list.
- Nearly one third of French immersion teachers get employed within one year of getting their degrees. This is in sharp comparison to 4-year period needed by nearly one-third of English language teachers to get full employment within one year of getting their degrees.
Nearly 20 percent of the 19,000 students are already pursuing French immersion in Greater Victoria school district. This is quite above the provincial average for the year 2015-16(nearly 9.5 percent).
Increased focus on hiring more French immersion teachers
No wonder, there is an increased focus to hire more and more French immersion teachers, says district principal of languages and multiculturalism, Simon Burgers.
The process of advertising and interviewing hiring of French immersion teachers is being done actively throughout the year, Burgers added. It may be noted that the school has the largest French immersion program in B.C.
Growing demand for shop teachers, senior-level science teachers
Apart from French immersion teachers, the demand for shop teachers and senior level science teachers is also growing. This has been revealed by Jim Cambridge, a Sooke school district superintendent. Nearly 10 percent of total 10,000 students of this district are in French immersion. This shows an increase from eight percent a couple of years ago.
There is likely to a shortage of teachers as B.C. districts increase hiring for meeting Supreme Court of Canada ruling’s provisions on class size and composition, stated Cambridge. Apart from B.C., steps need to be taken to increase the requirement of French immersion and non-immersion teachers in other Canadian provinces as well, Burgers maintained.
Teachers wanting to improve their French skills can make an application to federal bursaries, Burgers informed. To enable teachers having strong mastery over French language upgrade skills for a second-language learning setting, B.C. has collaborated with the University of Victoria for development of a specialization certification in French immersion, Burgers added.
Measures for alleviating shortage of French immersion teachers in Canada- Immigration rules being softened to expedite immigration of French Immersion Teachers
Among measures to curb shortage of French immersion teachers in Canada include expansion of immigration rules in Canada to attract more foreign teachers from French-speaking regions.