Nunavut educators concerned over recent Department of Education vacancies
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The vacancies within the department include multiple superintendents and executive directors
Teachers and other educators in Nunavut are worried after a number of senior management positions quietly became vacant in the territory’s Department of Education over the summer.
In early September, CBC News received an anonymous tip that said the vacancies include:
- Executive directors for both the Kivalliq and Qikiqtani School Operations,
- Two out of three superintendents within the Kivalliq School Operations
- Several superintendents within the Qikiqtani School Operations
- The department of education’s director of corporate services,
- Implementation managers for the territory’s literacy and numeracy programs.
The Nunavut Teachers’ Association (NTA) acknowledged the dismissals and resignations regarding the executive directors and superintendents, but could not confirm the same for the director of corporate services nor the implementation managers.
“We’ve never had that many senior management out of their positions in the amount of time I’ve been here all at once,” Matchett said. “So it’s kind of new territory, but we would have liked to have had a conversation definitely before so that we would have been able to direct our members.”
Matchett says the vacancies came to light roughly a month ago, as teachers approached the union after receiving a lack of response from senior managers over the summer months.
In a statement to CBC, the Department of Education would not confirm the vacancies, citing respect for employee privacy and compliance with the government’s human resources policy.
“We can confirm that the department continues to ensure all critical functions are maintained and that appropriate staffing plans are in place across our divisions,” the statement said. “With respect to concerns raised by community members, the department remains focused on supporting schools in meeting student learning needs.”
Vacancies affect teachers’ trust in the system, says union
The vacancies came as Nunavut was facing 120 teacher openings throughout the territory when the school year began, roughly 13 per cent of the territory’s teaching positions.
While Matchett says teachers aren’t necessarily worried they could lose their own jobs, the vacancies have created concern over the stability of the department as a whole.
“We really need to be careful, and we need to make sure lines of communication are always open between us and the Department of Education,” Matchett said. “We really need to make sure our members want to be here. Retention is a major issue within the teaching profession.”
Matchett says amongst the territory’s substitute teachers, virtually none hold bachelor’s of education degrees, which he says are needed to count as a qualified teacher.
Effects on student education
The Coalition of Nunavut District of Education Authorities is also expressing concerns over the managerial openings, and the trickle down effect they could have on student education.
The coalition’s executive director, Pat Angnakak, says the vacancies can have a direct effect on DEAs’ ability to choose the appropriate language of instruction model in the schools.
“If there’s no staff to carry out the models they’ve chosen, then obviously it won’t happen. And I think the overall morale at the school can really be down,” Angakak said.
Matchett says he has heard concerns from educators regarding the implementation of the language model under the territory’s new curriculum. Mainly, he says the concerns stem from lower objectives than in previous curriculums, and that these concerns have been raised with the department.
In response, the Department of Education says work is ongoing to strengthen supports around the language of instruction models and to strengthen K-12 language of assessment approaches, and that it is committed to ongoing dialogue with learning communities as changes occur.
Matchett says principals in Qikiqtani and Kivalliq School Operations were made aware of the managerial vacancies last week.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Violence against education staff in N.W.T. on the rise, union says, CBC News
Finland: Connection to nature, concern for environment amongst results of Sami youth survey, Eye on the Arctic
Greenland: Nunavut children’s books translated for circulation in Greenland’s schools, Eye on the Arctic
Norway: Creating youth links key to driving Canadian-Norwegian cooperation, conference hears, Eye on the Arctic
Sweden: Can cross-border cooperation help decolonize Sami-language education, Eye on the Arctic
