Teaching is a mentally demanding profession.
As an educator, your work does not stay confined to the classroom; it follows you home and permeates your life.
As teachers, we signed up for this because we know the payout. That payout comes in the form of student success and creating a classroom environment where every student feels safe and welcome.
Now, imagine teaching, but instead of going home at night and working on the career that you have worked so hard to achieve, you need to work a part-time job to pay for work.
This sounds crazy; however, it’s the life of most education students and Memorial University. As students, we have to pay an annual tuition fee to the university and then be expected to do 60 days of work for free.
People will say that your internship provides you with experience; however, this experience is is not setting teachers in Newfoundland and Labrador up for success.
Atop this, we deal with purchasing a living space and food in an economy that continues to rise at an exponential rate. For those who decide to remain on the Avalon Peninsula, the job market is scarce, and most teachers will end up on a substitute list.
Educators are the foundation of a moral society. School is so much more than children learning a set curriculum.
In school, they interact with friends and participate in an environment that is open and accepting of everyone. Good teachers will do this while teaching at the highest level by including methods of interactive learning and focusing on the retention of key materials.
How can the government expect the new group of up-and-coming teachers to foster this environment when they have to spend their evenings working instead of dedicating time to their craft?
It is time to pay student teachers what they deserve and allow them to dedicate their time to the job that they love!
