Teacher shortages see some Ontario high school students awarded perfect grades on midterm exams
Students at a high school in York Region have been awarded perfect marks on their midterm exams in three subjects – not because of their academic performances however, but because they had no teacher.
On Tuesday, York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) confirmed with CTV News that it had given pupils at St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic High School in Aurora, Ont. perfect marks on exams in two biology classes and one business class.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
"These classes have not had a permanent teacher for much of the semester due to a shortage of teachers specializing in the subject area, a spokesperson for the board told CTV News Toronto on Tuesday.
"This situation is rare at the Grade 12 level," the spokesperson said, adding that the board is "confident" it will find replacement teachers soon.
The move comes as schools across Ontario continue to grapple with staffing levels. In its 2023-2024 Annual Ontario School Survey, People for Education found that 24 per cent of elementary schools and 35 per cent of secondary schools report facing teaching staff shortages each day.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Education Minister Stephen Lecce called the situation “unacceptable.”
“Kids need to work hard in order to be assessed on their achievement,” Lecce said before calling on the Ontario Teachers’ Federation to allow retired teachers to fill absences, short-term.
“We are calling for retired educators — who have decades of experience — to be leveraged to fill those exact circumstances so qualified teachers could be in the classroom and restore some stability for those kids,” the minister continued.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles said York Region’s Catholic school board's decision serves as an example of the “appalling state of education in this province after six years of Doug Ford’s government.”
“This isn’t about the teachers’ unions or the Ontario Teacher Federation. The Premier and the minister need to need to take some responsibility here and be accountable for this mess," she said at Queen's Park on Monday.
“We don’t have people who want to work in our schools, and we have people leaving at record rate because of this government’s disrespect and lack of resources in education.”
In a statement provided to CTV News Toronto on Tuesday, the Ministry of Education said that personnel decisions such as recruitment and retention fall under the jurisdiction of school boards.
In an effort to assist boards in alleviating the crunch, the province says it has taken a number of steps, including reducing the amount of time to process teaching certification applications, permitting students in regular, full-time education programs to work in schools while completing their studies, and developing a Teacher Supply and Demand Action Table, tasked with developing a set of recommendations to improve recruitment and retention.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Some BMO bank clients face outages in Canada, U.S.
Bank of Montreal clients on both sides of the border Thursday morning have reported outages with banking services. BMO said its technical team is investigating.
Drive one of these vehicles? You may pay 37 per cent more than average insurance costs due to thefts
As the number of auto theft incidents rises in Canada, so have insurance premiums for drivers, even the ones whose vehicles aren't stolen.
B.C. mortgage broker ran $270-million Ponzi scheme, then fled Canada, bankruptcy trustee says
The trustee appointed to manage the bankruptcies of a Victoria mortgage company and its owner has concluded that they committed "numerous offences" and operated as a "massive Ponzi scheme."
'I'm not wealthy': Ontario senior shocked she owes $40,000 in capital gains after gifting land
An Ontario senior who wanted to help her daughter and grandson eventually own homes one day decided to give them two lots on her property as a gift—but she didn’t know it would eventually cost her tens of thousands of dollars.
opinion Trump's Republicans falling far behind in fundraising, infrastructure
In his latest column for CTVNews.ca, Washington political analyst Eric Ham explains how and why Republicans -- up and down the ballot -- are falling far behind Democrats in both fundraising and infrastructure.
Canadians are eyeing moves to these cities for more affordable housing
Faced with elevated housing prices, half of Canadians in the country's largest cities are considering moving to places with more affordable housing.
Canadians' interest in buying EVs fades as barriers, concerns remain: J.D. Power
A new study finds fewer Canadians say they're interested in buying an electric vehicle as concerns remain about limited driving ranges, high prices and a lack of charging stations.
McDonald's says US$18 Big Mac meal was an 'exception' and their prices haven't risen that much
McDonald’s is fighting back against viral tweets and media reports that it says have exaggerated its price increases.
DNA provides a break in this decades-old cold case
A skull was found along a backroad near St. John's more than 20 years ago. Now, police have finally identified the victim of the homicide.