By Cheryl Jahn

School of Education tries to fill gaps

Apr 24, 2024 | 2:35 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Each year, just over 13, 000 students attend one of 41 schools in school district 57. But the district, like every other district in the province is facing a shortage of teachers. Enter, UNBC’s School of Education.

“We have a relatively small cohort,” says Glen Thielman, a lecturer in the School of Education at UNBC. “In the last few years, anywhere between 30 and 50. And that’s split between elementary and secondary teacher candidates.”

As students move through the program, there are choices. You opt to be an elementary school teacher or a high school teacher. We caught up with one of each.

“When you apply for the program, you apply for a specific stream, so either elementary or secondary, and then secondary splits again into humanities and sciences,” explains Tiana Bleiler, who is planning to teach at the secondary level.

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“I love working with kids,” says Ariel Gilbert, who plans to teach at the elementary school level. “I’ve worked with kids for a long time. I used to be a swim instructor and I taught abroad for a while and then I realized that empowering children and making them feel like they have a voice and they can do anything they want is really what I love.”

Thielman notes a startling stat in terms of teaching staff in BC.

“Currently, 20 percent of [Prince George District Teachers Association] membership are uncertified teachers, and those are teachers who are substitute teaching as well as those who are holding letters of permission and teaching regular classroom positions.”

Because of the shortage of teachers, the program has been condensed from two years to 15 months.