During Question Period today in the House of Assembly, NL NDP Leader Jim Dinn (St. John’s Centre) focused on education, underlining the growing trend of retired teachers returning as substitutes and the ongoing lack of a clear plan from the Minister to address teacher recruitment and retention.
Dinn began by highlighting the Premier’s plan to increase skilled trades programs in high schools across the province, yet he questions the plan to hire more skilled trades teachers, noting that the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers’ Association (NLTA) has highlighted the shortage of speciality trained teachers – especially in rural areas.
“Speaker, during the election, the Premier promised to expand skilled trades courses in high schools across the province as a way to fix the skilled trades shortage. The NLTA has indicated there is a growing shortage of teachers, particularly specialty teachers, and especially in rural areas,” Dinn said. “I ask the Premier, where is he getting the teachers to expand the skilled trades courses, to fix the skilled trades shortage?”
During the provincial election, the NL NDP made it a priority to ensure paid work terms for teaching students as a meaningful step toward improving recruitment and retention in the profession. While the PCs have spoken about addressing classroom conditions, including class size and composition and violence, they have yet to put forward a clear plan to make these measures a real priority.
And despite repeated questioning from Dinn in the House of Assembly this sitting, the Minister has failed to provide any concrete answers on how or when these commitments will be delivered.
“Speaker, the problem is serious. The number of substitute teachers has declined significantly and the number of retired teachers working as substitute teachers has grown from 61 in 2015 to 630 in 2026,” said Dinn. “I ask the Minister of Education, what steps is he taking to reverse this trend and attract more new people into the teaching profession?”