By Lisa Goudy
A teacher from Switzerland was recently recruited to teach at a French immersion school in Regina.
Sabine Rieder, who lives in Prilly, Switzerland, is teaching at St. Pius X Elementary School for the current school year.
Diane Lacasse, the co-ordinator of languages for the Regina Catholic School Division, said Rieder applied to the Canadian Education Exchange Foundation program.
"She (Sabine) is one of the many different options or considerations that we had looked at in terms of recruiting and welcoming new teachers into our school division," said Lacasse.
She added that in the past two to three years, there have been "significant increases" in French immersion program enrolment.
Finding French immersion teachers in the province, however, isn't always easy.
"We definitely invested an interest in our education programs within the province," she said, adding that within the past year, one teacher from Edmonton and three from Moncton, N.B., relocated to Regina.
"But because of increasing enrolment, . part of our strategic direction has been to address the recruitment need of French immersion.
"As a school division, they are definitely supporters of language learning. They believe in the French immersion program and they understand that sometimes in these types of situations, you have to look at external resources," she continued.
So far, this process has been successful in filling the positions, but they are "always looking for more," she said.
On the contrary, full-time teaching positions in the regular system are much easier to fill.
"We generally have no issues filling our teaching positions," said Deputy Director of Regina Public Schools Mike Walter. "We don't have to go recruiting outside Saskatchewan much at all."
Walter added that even in the public system, French immersion teachers can be difficult to find.
When asked why this is, Walter said that "it's a pool of candidates."
"We are fairly quick to identify who the new graduates might be and if we believe there's going to be an opening, we'll offer them a contract. So really that one comes down to supply and demand," he said.
All the current positions with the school board are filled with people generally from the province, but that doesn't mean they are necessarily having to "close the doors" to people outside Saskatchewan, Walter said.
"School divisions are trying their best to attract teachers to come and give the best quality education to the children," he said. "I do support all school divisions and their efforts to do that."
A teacher from Switzerland was recently recruited to teach at a French immersion school in Regina.
Sabine Rieder, who lives in Prilly, Switzerland, is teaching at St. Pius X Elementary School for the current school year.
Diane Lacasse, the co-ordinator of languages for the Regina Catholic School Division, said Rieder applied to the Canadian Education Exchange Foundation program.
"She (Sabine) is one of the many different options or considerations that we had looked at in terms of recruiting and welcoming new teachers into our school division," said Lacasse.
She added that in the past two to three years, there have been "significant increases" in French immersion program enrolment.
Finding French immersion teachers in the province, however, isn't always easy.
"We definitely invested an interest in our education programs within the province," she said, adding that within the past year, one teacher from Edmonton and three from Moncton, N.B., relocated to Regina.
"But because of increasing enrolment, . part of our strategic direction has been to address the recruitment need of French immersion.
"As a school division, they are definitely supporters of language learning. They believe in the French immersion program and they understand that sometimes in these types of situations, you have to look at external resources," she continued.
So far, this process has been successful in filling the positions, but they are "always looking for more," she said.
On the contrary, full-time teaching positions in the regular system are much easier to fill.
"We generally have no issues filling our teaching positions," said Deputy Director of Regina Public Schools Mike Walter. "We don't have to go recruiting outside Saskatchewan much at all."
Walter added that even in the public system, French immersion teachers can be difficult to find.
When asked why this is, Walter said that "it's a pool of candidates."
"We are fairly quick to identify who the new graduates might be and if we believe there's going to be an opening, we'll offer them a contract. So really that one comes down to supply and demand," he said.
All the current positions with the school board are filled with people generally from the province, but that doesn't mean they are necessarily having to "close the doors" to people outside Saskatchewan, Walter said.
"School divisions are trying their best to attract teachers to come and give the best quality education to the children," he said. "I do support all school divisions and their efforts to do that."
Learn more about the Canadian Education Exchange Foundation program
There is also a French education program at the University of Regina called Le Bac. Learn more here.
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