As most students headed back to the classroom on Tuesday, teachers were also top of mind.

The president of the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association, Heidi Ryder, says recruitment is still a priority, “Still projecting probably 1400 teachers retiring the next five years or so. We’ve got about half of our BEd graduates who are staying to teach in the province.”

She adds, the three R’s in education right now are recruitment, retention and respect.

“Making sure the teachers feel valued and supported and are likely to stay. So I think the retention piece comes first and making sure teachers have those manageable workloads and are supported, and then the recruitment piece will become easier,” Ryder says.

The new NBTA president just moved into the role in August. She comes from the position of a school principal, which is one of 37 schools in New Brunswick taking part in a pilot project that will include ten additional professional development days for teachers.

“When you look at teacher schedules and school schedules, they really haven’t changed in decades. Things are pretty much the same as they would have been when I was in school and long before that. But the world has changed. Expectations of teachers have changed. If we can build that time into the work day so that teachers can do the professional learning but also the professional duties that come with the job, that will translate into student achievement and student outcomes,” Ryder stated.