Sorel-Tracy | Two classes facing a parade of teachers who “help out”

The shortage of teachers is felt, particularly in special education. In Sorel-Tracy, two groups of an elementary school have seen different teachers parade in front of them for a month, due to a lack of available teachers. This instability weighs not only on students, but also on teachers.

In recent weeks, two teachers have had to be absent from Maria-Goretti elementary school in Sorel-Tracy. A situation that can occur in all schools in Quebec, but which becomes more complex with the shortage of teachers.

Because the Sorel-Tracy school service center (CSSST) struggled to find teachers for a class of 2^e year and a special education class. For several weeks, if no substitute is available, the teachers at this school take turns teaching.

“Unfortunately, with the shortage, we are seeing things like this that we would not have seen just a few years ago,” she adds.

Each school chooses how the troubleshooting is done, explains the president of the union. In this school, if there is no volunteer to replace for a period, we proceed by drawing lots.

“It’s certain that there are volunteers, but there aren’t them all the time, because the situation has been going on for a long time,” says Lisette Trepanier.

“There are teachers who have their hands full with their classes full time and they need their time off to prepare. It’s not that they are less good teachers, but the capacity of one and the other is not the same,” she continues.

The school service center explains that the holder of the group of 2^e year left her class a month ago and that she will be replaced this Monday. In special education, we have been looking for a teacher for students for two months. The position posted specifies that these are students with an intellectual disability with or without autism spectrum disorder.

A special education technician provided “stability” for the students, but “the current context represents a challenge” in finding a teacher, writes Joey Olivier, communications manager for the CSSST.

In recent years, the shortage of teachers has been particularly glaring in special education.

General Director of the Quebec Autism Federation, Lili Plourde co-signed an open letter last year to denounce the fact that the lack of staff particularly affects disabled students or students with adjustment or learning difficulties (EHDAA).

“The situation is not easier than last year,” says M now^me Plourde.

Last April, there were 2,500 EHDAA in a situation of service disruption, she points out.

“It’s huge. The situation on the ground is not really improving,” she laments.

An overused “emergency system”

According to the most recent data from the Ministry of Education, there are still 1,461 teaching positions to be filled in Quebec schools.

Troubleshooting is intended to be an emergency system that we now use too frequently, underlines Richard Bergevin, president of the Federation of Education Unions (FSE).

If no substitutes are available, teachers may be forced to do troubleshooting, much like mandatory overtime. In this case, the salary of a full-time teacher is increased. But salary is not everything, indicates the president of the FSE.

“It’s rather rare for full-time teaching staff to say they volunteer to substitute. The task is already heavy,” says Mr. Bergevin.

Last year, the Auditor General of Quebec noted in his report that “the reduction in the quality of education is one of the main consequences of the shortage which have been identified by many education stakeholders. […]. »

At the Federation of Parents’ Committees of Quebec (FCPQ), it is indicated that the shortage of teachers does not seem to be hitting so hard this year.

“It’s not so much for teachers that we receive calls, but for support staff,” notes Mélanie Laviolette, president of this federation.

At the FSE, they say that the shortage is “a permanent situation of undue pressure on teachers”. “It creates a daily problem,” says Mr. Bergevin.