A school year overshadowed by lack of personnel in Quebec

The school year which is coming to an end has been difficult for many parents and students due to staff shortages. Some parents even fear for the success of their children. The numerous substitutes and non-legally qualified teachers who were called in as reinforcements were not enough for the task, they believe.

As the end of classes approached, nearly 3,000 staff members were still missing from schools, indicates the Dashboard of the Quebec Ministry of Education, approximately a third of which were teachers.

The teachers’ strike did not help, but it is above all the lack of teachers that those who spoke to Radio-Canada point the finger at.

It’s been a difficult year, the most difficult we’ve had so far. We had changes of teachers, a lot of replacements.

For Julie, the school year that is ending has not been easy. She has lost count of the number of substitutes who have ended up in her boy’s fifth grade class.

Sometimes, in the same week, there were three or four different people in the class, including people from daycare and people not legally qualifiedshe emphasizes.

When Julie came home from school, Julie’s son was often quick to tell her that he hadn’t done anything in class during the day, she regrets. I don’t think he learned much. I have the impression that this year should be forgotten.

She also regrets that her son never had any homework to do at home during the year.

“The Waltz of the Substitutes”

Another mother, Émilie, also found the last school year long and difficult. She even claims to have stopped counting the number of substitutes her daughter, a fifth grader, had, because we had several dozen replacements.

She has often been discouraged in recent months by the lack of stability in her daughter’s group, she says. It was a waltz of the replacements. Every day, different replacements. Sometimes, two different replacements on the same day and, sometimes, when they couldn’t find replacements, it was people from the daycare who came to help.

This situation lasted a large part of the year, from September to March, until they can find an unqualified teacher to do the rest of the yearsays Émilie. But the class fell very, very behind… they weren’t able to see all the material this year.

The mother would have liked to feel more support from the school administration during this difficult period for her and her child. They told us that they did everything they could to find someone stable as quickly as possible.

Julie also said she was disappointed with the attitude of the principal of her boy’s school. The management told us that there were problems like everywhere finding teachers and that we should count ourselves lucky to have someone in the class, that it could be worse.

Both mothers felt the need to hire in-home tutors to ensure that their children actually learned what was on the Ministry of Education’s curriculum.

Replacements are not necessarily competent.

Marie also deplores the fact that her daughter had several substitutes in some of her classes during the last school year.

There were replacements who gave them occupational activities, who did not teach the subject, she says. Okay, there is a teacher in the class, but his competence is never assured, and that’s a really big problem.

Directors throw in the towel

As the school year draws to a close, there is still a shortage of more than 800 teachers in Quebec schools, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Education.

Nicolas Prévost, president of the Quebec Federation of Educational Establishment Directors, noted this: the lack of teachers weighed heavily.

It’s major, the lack of staff, the turnover of staff that we havehe said. Every day, it is a headache to find people to be in classes to ensure not only the students’ learning, but also their safety.

This is a factor that causes school principals to leave the job. We sense discouragement among our troopsinsists Mr. Prévost.

He claims that around sixty directors have resigned in recent weeks.

Nicolas Prévost recognizes that the lack of staff and the numerous non-legally qualified teachers who find themselves in classes have an impact on student success.

We have a lot of people who are not legally qualified and who have all the good will in the world, but who do not have all the knowledge to do their job optimally, he agrees. […] All of this means that there is not optimal service currently being given to the student.

No notable improvement on the horizon

And the one who represents school principals does not believe that the situation will improve by the next school year.

We don’t see many glimmers of hope in the short term.

The spokesperson for the Regroupement des committees de parents nationaux du Québec, Sylvain Martel, is not too confident about the future either.

The staff shortage was felt this year and, unfortunately, I think next year will not be betterhe warns.

A very worrying situation, in the eyes of the Minister of Education Bernard Drainville.

We know that stability, for a child, is good for their educational success and we must do everything to ensure this, said his office. We must never compromise on student success. We are not crossing our arms, it is one of the minister’s priorities.

In order to recruit and retain more teachers, the government has notably improved their working conditions and salaries, recalled Mr. Drainville’s office.

In addition to teaching staff, school boards are trying to find 485 professionals and 1,500 support staff members for their establishments, according to the most recent data from the ministry, dated April 15.