Immigrant teachers in N.S. frustrated by lack of recognition of their training, experience

Manmeet Oberoi is passionate about teaching and wants to be given a chance to use her skills to benefit students in Nova Scotia.

But she has become frustrated by the amount of time it is taking for her to get a permanent position.

She was the principal of a teacher training college for a decade before she her family moved to Nova Scotia from India in 2018.

Oberoi has been working as a substitute teacher in Halifax. She says she will have to complete two years of full-term substitute teaching before she qualifies to get a permanent teaching position in the province.

She believes the system in Nova Scotia doesn't take into account her academic qualifications and years of teaching experience in India.

"I cannot live without teaching. How will I survive without teaching? I cannot imagine my life without it," she said.

Oberoi has masters degrees in zoology and education and a PhD in education from Indian universities.

She said she doesn't understand why her Indian experience is not taken into account when the province is in dire need of teachers.

Fundamentals the same

Oberoi said while there are some cultural and technological differences to teaching in Nova Scotia, the fundamentals are largely the same.

New teachers coming from other countries should be given a short course to bring them up to speed and then be allowed to apply for permanent positions, she said.

Oberoi is not alone in believing that foreign-trained teachers are not being allowed to fully contribute their talents and experience in Nova Scotia.

Jad BouChahine was a coach and physical education teacher in Lebanon when he and his wife moved to Halifax in 2018.

Jad BouChahine says he cannot get certified as a teacher in Nova Scotia unless he takes 14 more courses at his expense. (Joseph Abdo)

According to BouChahine, he and his wife have the same degrees from the same university in Lebanon. He said in Nova Scotia she was certified as a teacher and he was granted a conditional certificate that allows him to be a substitute teacher for five years.

He said when he asked for an explanation he was eventually told that she had applied three months before him and the rules had changed.

BouChahine said he was told that to be certified he will have to take 10 education courses and four science courses.

That would be the equivalent of a year and a half as a full-time student, he said.

"If I decide to quit teaching and pursue that, I'm going to have to pay the university money and not have any source of income," he said.

"They are desperate for people, and you guys are making it hard for people to become teachers."

Ryan Lutes is president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union. (Shaina Luck/CBC)

BouChahine said this is his fourth year working as a substitute teacher in Nova Scotia and the work has been almost exactly the same as he was doing in Lebanon.

Going back to school is financially unfeasible, he said, noting that if nothing changes in the next few months he will have to find another line of work.

Nova Scotia Teachers Union president Ryan Lutes said the current system for certifying locally trained and foreign-trained teachers is based on the number of credit hours they have and is fairly objective.

Measuring the right things

He said it may be the case with foreign-trained teachers that the system is not measuring the right things.

With increasing immigration, he said, the province benefits from having teachers that more closely reflect the changing face of the Nova Scotia population.

"I think it's important for those folks to see people in front of the classroom that look like them so that they know that that's something that's attainable and all of the doors are open," Lutes said.

A statement from the province's office of teacher certification said internationally educated teachers must meet the same requirements as Nova Scotian and other Canadian teachers.

It said the office works with teachers who have completed professional training outside Canada to get them into classrooms as soon as possible.

"The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development is currently working with our partners to review and improve pathways for internationally educated teachers to be certified," the statement said.

MORE TOP STORIES