RP-trained teachers licensed by Ontario College of Teachers post record growth

RP-trained teachers licensed by Ontario College of Teachers post record growth

Over the past 5 years, the number of teachers and educators specifically from the Philippines who are licensed professionally by the Ontario College of Teachers has increased. This was revealed by Tony A. San Juan (OCT), President of Philippine Teachers Association of Canada or PTAC at a recent meeting.

In a casual sampling survey of teachers of Philippine origin who completed their professional and teacher education in the homeland and currently holding the professional designation of Ontario Certified Teacher or OCT, T. San Juan gathered that before 2005 there were about 31 known Filipino Canadian teachers in the roster of Ontario College of Teachers. As compared to 102 fully registered teachers in 2010, the available data clearly reflects a 300% growth.

The Ontario College of Teachers is the government’s professional regulatory body responsible for licensing teachers of publicly funded Catholic or public schools in the province. A registered teacher in Ontario , in respect of interprovincial labour mobility agreement on internal trades, is also allowed to teach subject to certain conditions in other Canadian jurisdictions.

Current membership of the Philippine Teachers Association of Canada includes registered and practicing teachers and educators in publicly funded schools, community colleges, and private or independent schools in Ontario, as well. Initially, the organization’s members were licensed and certified to teach by the Philippine Professional Regulatory Commission(PRC) and/or the Civil Service Commission (CSC). Of the total 102 Filipino Canadian teachers identified(there could be more), forty-nine or 48 % are members of PTAC.

San Juan, a retired TDSB teacher and former professor of education in the Philippines and Nigeria, reported further that of the 102 teachers who received their OCT designation, thirty-one or 30 % are “in transition” i.e. in-between jobs or actively seeking teaching posts, and 50 (49%) are employed in various school boards and private schools.The other twenty-one OCTs or 21% are not known if they are presently teaching or not. Those employed include : five school administrators/principals; 3 private school teachers; one college professor; and 41 teachers who are either on contract (full-time) or occasional (supply) assignments in public and Catholic secondary and elementary schools thoughout the GTA.

It is encouraging to note that the teacher licensing procedure now in place is fairly reasonable and a much welcome development compared to that experienced by pioneering Filipino Canadian teachers before the creation of the Teacher College. While the numbers of certified teachers are growing percentage-wise, opportunities for employment are becoming highly competitive and to a point, discouraging due to certain uncontrolled factors, e.g. supply anddemand.Further, given that the population of Ontario school-age children from the Philippines is growing, the number of unemployed Philippine educated teachers expected to serve as role models and are identified to belong to visible minorities remains a hiring challenge in terms of proportional representation that needs to be addressed fairly and justifiably.

(PRESS RELEASE-By Jennifer S.J. MacLean)