Shortage of Teachers in Quebec Schools Raises Concerns for Start of School Year

There is a shortage of more than 8,000 teachers in the school network and the Minister of Education is unable to guarantee that there will be one “adult” per class at the start of the school year. However, teachers ready to tackle the task are still waiting impatiently for their school service center to finally offer them a job.

Last May, Mireille El Hachem resigned from the private school where she had been teaching for two years to apply for a job at the CSS de Laval, where the teacher shortage is the most severe in Quebec. On the phone, a human resources employee assured her that she would be on the call list in August. “She said to me: ‘There are a lot of positions, don’t worry,'” says the teacher.

M^me El Hashem does not have a patent, but she wishes to obtain one. She has over 20 years of teaching experience, particularly in Lebanon.

But Wednesday, four days before the start of the school year, his phone had still not rung. “I called yesterday and today I sent emails…no answer,” she laments. During his interview with The duty, his telephone line is activated: a private school offers him a job. M^me El Hachem, who wanted to join the public network, will therefore return to the private sector.

However, the Laval CSS has 905 vacancies, according to figures provided Wednesday by the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville.

One “adult” per class?

Minister Drainville asked the 72 CSSs in Quebec to measure the extent of the staff shortage. A total of 71 of them responded. As of “last week,” Mr. Drainville said, schools were short 1,859 full-time teachers and 6,699 part-time teachers. In total, there are therefore 8,558 vacancies in the network, which employs 110,000 teachers.

In the context, the elected official said he was unable to guarantee that there would be one adult per class at the start of the school year. “How do you want me to assure it?” he asked the journalists gathered at the National Assembly. He later said he and the network “need some help”.

After him, the Prime Minister, François Legault, skirted a question about a possible compromise of access to quality education. “Listen, we do our best to provide the best education given the number of teachers we have, but like elsewhere, we can’t work miracles. Me, I am not a magician, ”he dropped.

The head of government also addressed teachers to encourage them. “Please don’t give up, we’re coming with more help and we need you guys,” he said.

Fabienne Vézina, who has her teaching certificate and who has 20 years of experience in elementary school, has everything but the intention of “letting go” of the network. She resigned a few years ago from the CSS Marguerite-Bourgeoys to go and teach in the Far North. She has now returned to Montreal.

“I spoke to human resources at the beginning of the summer, they said they would call me. And tomorrow [jeudi]it’s the first pedagogical day of the year and I haven’t heard from her, she told the Duty. I was told that my file was impeccable. »

Since then, it’s radio silence, and she falls on voicemail. So she decided to approach her old school herself and she is waiting to see if she will be offered something.

“The first three pedagogical days are the most important. If you have a class, you have to place it, we put everything in order. And there are big meetings at the beginning of the year. If you miss that, you’re in trouble, ”she said.

Invited to comment on the situation, CSS Marguerite-Bourgeoys assured that all classes will be open for the start of the school year, although several positions have not been filled. They say they have “worked very hard” to get ahead of the first posting session, which now takes place in May.

The human resources team also makes a lot of effort to recruit externally, adds Chrystine Loriaux, director of the communications office. But these files require “a sharp analysis of the course of the interested persons”. “The human resources team is making every effort to meet the needs of our establishments, in accordance with the collective agreement,” she wrote.

“We run after CSS”

Luiz Nascimento, who lives in Montreal, also multiplies the steps with the CSS to obtain a task – whether in elementary, secondary or adult education.

At the CSS de Montréal, “what I received as an answer was that they have nothing for me, but that the assignment sessions will take place on August 30 and 31, he said. But classes start on the 28th…”

He arrived from Brazil five years ago, with a doctorate in education in his pocket, but without a teaching certificate. Since then, he has worked in primary, secondary and college. “Normally, I received the positions, in the best scenarios, two weeks before the start of the school year,” he explained to the Duty.

This year, it’s dead calm. In fact, “we, as teachers, have to run after the school service centers to find out if there are any vacancies,” he pointed out. This is also the message that teachers exchange on social networks: do not wait for a call from human resources from a CSS, because you will be waiting a long time.

In a press briefing, Minister Drainville explained that the permanent teaching positions were assigned in June. Except that in August, “there are always a certain number of positions” to be filled given the departures announced during the summer, he added.

When asked if the process to fill the replacement positions and contracts could be started sooner, CSS de Montréal’s press relations manager, Alain Perron, explained that the “recruitment offensive [du CSS] is intensive and takes place continuously”, which includes recruitment campaigns, interviews and activities with target clienteles, “because there are assignments to be filled throughout the year.

He added that the point will be made during the start of the school year on August 28, “because the data is changing every day”. The number of vacancies was 591 on August 16, and 293 two days later. “Although our needs are great, most positions or assignments are filled,” he said.

At the CSS de la Rivière-du-Nord, in the Laurentians, where there are still dozens of positions to be filled, the team “is fully mobilized to call candidates and do job interviews,” assured Nadyne Brochu, communications advisor. “This effervescent whirlwind will continue until the very last minute. »

A plan for “hope”

In turn, the opposition parties criticized the government for ignoring the obvious signs of a labor shortage in education.

Faced with the complexity of the situation, “we want a plan at least to show and give hope to everyone that, over a certain number of years, we will get there and we will return to normal,” said declared François Legault on Wednesday.

He thought aloud about various solutions, including that of shortening the bachelor’s degree in education. “Even only temporarily, can we put in a university education that is less than four years? So, are we capable, perhaps, of taking temporary measures? I think we have to be creative,” said the Prime Minister. “It is certain that, in an ideal world, everyone – then Bernard the first, me too -, we would like 100% of the teachers in our classes to be qualified with a baccalaureate with certificate, but we cannot make magic. »

Mr. Legault also acknowledged that he may have underestimated the extent of the teacher shortage when launching his 4-year-old kindergarten project. “Well, we knew he was always short of teachers, I think, anyway, as far back as I can remember. On the other hand, we had perhaps not seen the explosion that we see in Quebec like everywhere else in the world, ”he admitted.

For this, and “taking note of the situation of shortage in which we find ourselves, we decided to push back the deadline in time”, added Mr. Drainville about the opening of 4-year-old kindergarten classes.

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