Drop in enrollment in education | Drainville criticizes unions and universities, but considers paying internships

(Quebec) Bernard Drainville criticizes unions and universities for not doing enough to counter the decline in enrollment in teaching, in the midst of a shortage of professors. He also opens the door to paid internships to attract candidates.

“If we are to reverse the trend and succeed in promoting education and encouraging young people to choose careers in education, it is not just the Minister of Education who will be able to achieve this, it is society as a whole, I spoke about unions, universities, but I am talking about Quebec society as a whole, including the media,” Mr. Drainville said at a press briefing on Thursday.

The Press reported this morning a drop in enrolment in educational programmes, sometimes by as much as 10, 15 or even 20%, which worries the minister.

“What the figures revealed by The Press “What they tell me is that we still have a lot of work to do to enhance education,” he said.

Mr. Drainville first praised his accomplishments. Since he took office, he noted, he has been able to improve teachers’ pay conditions, has deployed classroom aids, and has given 5,400 new permanent positions to “contract” teachers.

Unions must present good news

During question period, he deplored the fact that the Québec solidaire member, Ruba Ghazal, did not recognize these advances, which does not help recruit new teachers.

He made a similar criticism of the unions. “The discourse cannot just be education is hell,” he said. These organizations should, every time they make a critical statement against the education network, make a parallel statement where they highlight “teachers who are happy and who make a difference in the lives of children to come out and say it.”

He also points the finger at universities, which, according to him, are dragging their feet in offering short training courses in pedagogy to teachers without a certificate, with the exception of TELUQ.

The drop in admissions should be a wake-up call for them to open up “to other avenues for accessing the teaching profession.”

“That’s why I’m advocating for universities to create fast tracks for teachers who are already in the classroom but who don’t have a certificate, so that they can get a basis in pedagogy to be able to access the certificate,” he said.

Reacting to his remarks, the Fédération des syndicats de l’enseignement (FSE-CSQ) accused Minister Drainville of attacking an “easy target.” These “gratuitous attacks” against unions contribute to fueling a “vicious circle,” deplored its president, Richard Bergervin.

Even though it is important to highlight the good things that have happened in education, “we cannot hide the reality of the teaching environment, which is difficult,” he argued.

Paid internships

Mr. Drainville, however, is opening a door that had been closed in March by his government: paying for teaching internships. With the $11 billion deficit, the Minister of Higher Education said in the spring that “in the current context, it is not possible for the government to take this path.”

The Minister of Education indicated that he is working with Mr.^me Déry “to get there.” “Eventually, we will have to get there,” he said. M^me Déry specified that the scenario envisaged would be to pay for internship 4 in teaching. “We are currently looking at the scenarios,” she said.

Schools often rely on interns to make up for the lack of teachers, points out the president of the Association québécoise du personnel de direction des écoles, Carl Ouellet. He notes that the shortage of staff is more pronounced in regions far from universities, due to the lack of interns. “How come internships are not paid when they are in other professions?” he asks.

The Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec (FNEEQ-CSN) believes that these findings demonstrate the failure of the Perspective Québec scholarship program, “which was supposed to encourage” students to enroll in this training. “The government must understand that to encourage enrollment and retention, it must improve teaching conditions in the classroom instead of attacking the unions that bear witness to what members experience on a daily basis,” stressed its president, Benoît Lacoursière.

The Parti Québécois also believes that difficult working conditions are detrimental to recruitment. MNA Joël Arseneau says that “there are classes that are overcrowded, obviously there are many students with difficulties, the classes and schools are dilapidated, the air is polluted.” “These are working conditions that students or those who aspire to the profession see as impossible and inhumane,” he said.

With Léa Carrier, The Press