The teacher at the Pointe-de-l’Île School Service Center who was able to continue to denigrate his students this fall despite an investigation by the ministry will not be back in a classroom anytime soon, his certificate having been revoked last week last, learned The Journal.
“Finally!” sighs of relief Annie Pinet, a mother from Pointe-aux-Trembles who had filed a case in 2022 to file a complaint against teacher Arezki Bentayeb.
The Journal published two articles about this fifth grade teacher who used to yell and humiliate his students in front of the entire class.
Despite an investigation report from the Ministry of Education which concluded last May that there had been “serious misconduct”, Mr. Bentayeb was back in a school in Anjou this fall, accumulating new complaints from parents.
“You do not understand the inappropriate nature of your conduct or its impact on the students,” mentions the deputy minister in his letter announcing the revocation of his teaching certificate, including The Journal got a copy.
Notre-Dame primary school, in Pointe-aux-Trembles, where the teacher taught in 2022.
Photo Dominique Scali
The letter is dated October 23, although the investigation had been completed since the spring. A delay that is much too long, denounces Annie Pinet.
For its part, the office of Minister Bernard Drainville recalls that this type of decision is not taken “lightly” and requires respecting a fair process.
Not religious
This story has particular resonance these days because of the Bedford School scandal, where 11 teachers were suspended. Several voices reacted to this by proposing to strengthen secularism in schools.
As in this explosive affair, the teacher Bentayeb would have, for example, minimized the needs of students with learning disability diagnoses and, when confronted, claimed his “professional autonomy”, for example.
Arezki Bentayeb is originally from Algeria. He arrived in Quebec in 2007 and has been legally qualified to teach since 2009, we can read in the report of the investigative committee.
However, among all the accusations against Mr. Bentayeb, no religious behavior has been reported.
Interviewed
Even in 2018, Mr. Bentayeb publicly spoke out for secularism in schools in a TVA Nouvelles report giving voice to teachers opposing the wearing of religious symbols.
“I think that religion must return to its initial place, which is the private,” he said on the air.
“A teacher, for me, must be a reference, a model, a source of security, but it is also an image,” he added.
For Maryse Potvin, professor in the education department at UQAM, this example shows that acting solely on secularism will not be enough to protect students against verbal abuse.
“What would have been necessary [pour protéger mon fils]it means strengthening the rules and mechanisms that protect students,” concludes Annie Pinet.
Arezki Bentayeb can still take the decision to the Administrative Labor Court. The lawyer who represented him last May did not return any of our numerous emails.
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