Canada

Teachers out of pocket for classroom essentials

By

Education International

A survey carried out by the Canadian Teachers' Federation (CTF) has discovered that in the 2008-09 school year each Canadian teacher paid out from their own pocket an average of $453 for essential classroom materials or class-related activities.

Announcing the results of the survey at the Federation's President's Forum, held between 12-13 July in Edmonton, Canada, the CTF President Mary-Lou Donnelly told delegates: "One of the barometers of education under-funding is a growing reliance on outside sources of funding. "Teachers in classrooms across this country are spending significant sums of their own money to fill the funding gap in order to address their students' learning needs."

She noted that a similar survey conducted by the CTF five years earlier estimated the average amount spent per teacher at $344, before describing how parents, students and other school community members also contribute to filling the funding gap."

According to the EI affiliate members' on-line survey, 95 per cent of teacher respondents noted that their schools regularly conduct fundraising activities through sales, community donations, contests and admission fees to school-related activities. To read the full results of the CTF survey please click here.

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Last Modified: 19 Jul 2010