Internationally Educated Teachers are Hired to Teach in Manitoba
Eduviges Castillo and Max Santiago
The Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba congratulates the fourth cohort of the Academic and Professional Bridging Program for Internationally Educated Teachers (IET Program) on successfully completing their studies. This unique and motivated group of internationally educated teachers (IETs) will celebrate their accomplishments at the IET Celebration Dinner on November 24th, 2011.
The IET Celebration Dinner will honour ten IETs from India, the Philippines, Eritrea, Egypt, and Russia for their hard work and dedication to the field of education. Those teachers include: Anju Bajaj, Pushapjit Gill, George Khalil, Michael Litvak, Kuljinder Maan, Nowell Marzo, Max Santiago, Yared Keleta, Eduviges Castillo, and Prem Sharma.
This celebration will be attended by the IETs and their families, University of Manitoba representatives, program partners from Manitoba school divisions, President of the Manitoba Teachers’ Society, and a representative from the office of the Manitoba Fairness Commissioner.The IET Program of the Faculty of Education, IET Program acknowledges the generous contribution of the Manitoba Teachers’ Society towards the celebration dinner.
The Faculty of Education is proud to announce that, at the time of this event, seven IETs will have become certified to teach in Manitoba, while three more expect to complete their program in the new year. Of the seven who recently became certified, three have found full-time contracts in Winnipeg, while others are substitute teaching in various Manitoba school divisions. This year marks the first time that IETs have been hired directly out of the IET Program.
IET Program Co-Coordinator, Dr. Clea Schmidt explains: “The hiring of teachers straight out of the IET program demonstrates that more school division hiring personnel are looking to diversify the teaching force to better reflect the cultural and linguistic diversity of student populations. Seven Oaks School Division has been particularly proactive in this respect, and the Manitoba Association of School Superintendents (MASS) has been a key voice in support of a more diverse teaching force.”
The Faculty of Education is extremely proud of the IETs’ employment success, with over 70% of our program participants since 2006 hired in a wide range of school divisions, both in Winnipeg and in northern, rural, and First Nations communities, teaching a variety of subject areas from K-12. However, in spite of the IETs successes and the increased awareness and expressed need for IETs in the classroom, the faculty was forced to suspend its operation due to a lack of funding in 2011-2012.
The pilot for the IET Program was first launched in 2006 and was funded through grants from the University of Manitoba and Manitoba Labour and Immigration, but external funding was discontinued in the spring of 2010.
About the Academic and Professional Bridging Program for Internationally Educated Teachers
The Bridging Program has an academic focus and is designed for internationally educated teachers who require additional university coursework for Manitoba teaching certification as determined by the Manitoba Professional School Personnel Certification unit.For more information visit the Faculty of Education website, IET Future Students.