One of the conversations the province’s education minister is hoping to have soon with stakeholders is around the recruitment and retention of teachers.

John Haggie was sworn into the portfolio about a month and a half ago.

Many jurisdictions across the country are experiencing teacher shortages, and according to Haggie the issue is no different here.

He says the province has an advantage in that most of the teachers here have their master’s degrees, so the workforce is very well educated.

He notes that MUN graduates about 170 new teachers per year.

Moving forward, Haggie says recruitment and retention need to be a priority.

He says working with the NLTA and the school district during the merger with the Department of Education will help create a plan to address that. Haggie says that in general workers are in short supply, and the province needs to be “on its game” as far as recruitment and retention is concerned.

As far as making sure all positions in this province are filled for this coming September, Haggie says he hasn’t been made aware of any areas of concern by the English School District, noting that there are always some positions that aren’t filled until the very last minute.