The province is revoking a regulation that prioritizes hiring teachers based on seniority in a bid to help schools hire more educators.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced the revocation of regulation 274 today, saying the lack of available teachers in school boards during the pandemic is not a result of a lack of funding.
"When our principals need to hire an educator they are constrained by an outdated process when they need to get qualified teachers into the class right now," said Lecce.
Some school boards have had to resort to hiring unqualified occasional teachers in the event all of the qualified supply teachers are already assigned to a class.
Lecce said in the midst of the pandemic, students deserve a quality education.
"When we're undertaking the hiring of hundreds more staff now... we have an obligation to revert the system to where the best teacher leads the way," Lecce said.
Lecce also suggested that the experience of switching to online learning in the spring was not "at a standard that met the spirit of what we want for this province."
He went on to say, "I think it becomes quite obvious to people that we have to improve the qualifications of those we hire and those we promote."
Lecce said while Ontario English Catholic Teachers Federation collective agreement allows for only a partial "watering down" of regulation 274, the agreement with public school teachers' unions allows to government abolish any regulations and they are exercising that right.