The education minister says his department is looking into the reasons why so many teachers are unable to work in the classroom.

The Teachers’ Association says in the last decade, there’s been a “sharp increase” in the number of retired teachers who have gone back into the system to fill-in as substitutes.

Minister Paul Dinn says of greater concern is that among the province’s 5,600 teachers, up to 600 are out “on any given day.”

Dinn says you have to take substitutes where you can get them, and where they come from “is not the concern.” He’s hoping to address why so many substitutes are needed in the first place.

“That’s a serious situation that we’ve got to look into,” says Dinn, “looking at those 600, and determining why they’re out.” He says government has spoken with the NLTA on issues like capacity and violence in the classroom.