Experienced teachers: they can’t even replace in their own class

Teachers at the end of their career denounce the absurdity of a system which limits their access to substitutes, to the point of preventing them from replacing in their own class.

“There are days when around thirty substitutes are missing. And we are at home,” says Élyse* (fictitious name), a teacher from the Quebec region.

As she is pre-retiring, she has a reduced teaching schedule. When she is not in her class, she would be available to substitute elsewhere.

Until last summer, she could access Scolago, the digital platform where all the replacements to be filled in her school service center (CSS) are displayed.

But since the start of the school year in August, she has no longer had access to it, which is confirmed by several documents consulted by The Journal. “They completely took us off the platform. We no longer exist,” she marvels.

“They are my students”

Rebecca* is in the same situation. She decided to work part-time to care for a sick relative. She and a colleague therefore share a primary level group.

However, when her colleague is ill, she cannot replace her, being barred from the Scolago platform.

“But this is my class. They are my students!”, she exclaims.

Last minute

At the beginning of December, The Journal published the testimony of a teacher who was told that she was “overqualified” to teach secondary school.

Since then, several experienced teachers have contacted The Journalsaying he had difficulty being hired, even if only as substitutes. And this, despite the shortage of qualified personnel.

The Quebec Region Education Union (SERQ) prefers to refrain from talking about the situation of pre-retirees in its region.

But the difficulties experienced by teachers who have already retired are well known, indicates President François Bernier.

At the CSS des Premières-Seigneuries and de la Capitale, retired teachers are last in the order of priority.

“We don’t want it to be “free for all”. But what we notice is that the employer seems to structure a little too much [l’accès aux suppléances sur Scolago]», this M. Bernier.

Retired teachers therefore only have access to substitutes at the last minute, the day before or the same day, while certain gaps could have been filled much earlier, he explains.

Mr. Bernier gives the example of a replacement requested for the week of December 9 and still vacant the same week. However, it had been posted on November 13.

Teachers are told they “cost too much”

How can we explain that experienced teachers are not better used in these times of staff shortage? Several hypotheses are circulating, ranging from the cumbersome “paperwork” to the idea that these teachers would cost “too expensive”.

This last hypothesis is difficult to verify, but several people who contacted The Journal individually in recent weeks have said they have already heard this justification on the ground.

For example, when Rebecca* volunteered to offer academic catch-up last year, her management told her “well no, it’s going to cost too much”.

“Powder in the eyes”

Since the pandemic, the government has put in place incentives to bring retired teachers back to schools. In a way, “it turns out to be smoke and mirrors” because of bureaucratic obstacles, summarizes Mr. Bernier.

“There is a whole complaints process afterwards. Our impression is that the CSS want to spare themselves this paperwork,” supposes Mr. Bernier.

Meanwhile, teachers who are on site in schools are also bearing the brunt of these blockages. This is the case for Judith*, who sometimes wants to ask her pre-retirement colleagues to replace her, since they already know her routine and her students. This is actually what she did until last year.

“It’s so much easier to coordinate,” she says, recalling the importance of consistency and stability for young people.

But this is no longer possible. “We end up with substitutes who are not trained or who do not have experience, who are not capable of taking the lead.”

“We have to prepare all the material down to the smallest detail. It takes a lot of time,” she laments.

“It’s dropping like flies”

In other cases, no replacement is found and the school must resort to emergency replacement. This measure forces the teachers on site to take turns in the class where there are no teachers.

“People are burned, it’s dropping like flies,” observes Élyse*, who sees a vicious circle.

At the CSS de la Capitale, it is indicated that “it is very rare that replacements are not offered to retirees in compliance with [l’]established order […] The whole process [de réclamation au ministère] is fully automated and managed electronically by the payroll system, which does not generate any paperwork,” explains Marie-Claude Lavoie by email.

As for the CSS des Premières-Seigneuries, he preferred not to make any comments. “We were surprised to learn of the filing of a grievance on this subject a few days ago [en décembre].»

*Fictitious names. The teachers interviewed preferred to remain anonymous to avoid reprisals from their employer.