Only 278 more qualified educators in three years in Quebec

The Legault government denies not succeeding in attracting and retaining daycare educators since, for three years, the number of hires has exceeded departures with 7,490 more educators in the network. However, this number hides another reality: among these net hires, there are only 278 qualified educators.

The data compiled by - comes from the Portrait of the workforce of the educational childcare services network, published since 2021 by the Quebec Ministry of the Family.

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- revealed last week that more than 10 educators are leaving the profession every day for three years, often due to salaries and working conditions.

On Tuesday, new data provided by CEGEPs showed that the number of student dropouts has exploded in training for the profession of educator, while registrations are in free fall.

Each time, the government has been reassuring by pointing out that the number of hires far exceeds departures, but without ever specifying that this is mainly the recruitment of unqualified educators.

It works so well that we managed to hire 7,500 new educators.

Not only are the educators hired mainly unqualified workers, but moreover, - discovered that the Ministry of Families considers an educator who has only completed one of the three years of training at the DEC in childhood education techniques.

This information can be found in the Ministry’s Directive concerning the evaluation of the qualifications of early childhood educational personnel.

It’s an aberrationsays Stéphanie Vachon, representative of the early childhood center (CPE) sector at the Federation of Health and Social Services (FSSS) –CSN.

The government has reduced the requirements for hiring in CPEs, and that is problematic. The message it sent to people was: “You don’t need to be qualified to do this job.”

The last two years of training are perceived as being uselessregrets Mélanie Rousseau, treasurer of the Association of Teachers in Childhood Education Techniques.

Our students are really being courted by the circles [de garde et se font] say: “No no, it’s useless [de faire deux ans de plus au DEC]we will accompany you, come and work with us.” It can be very tempting.

The only incentive to complete your training is the salary of a qualified educator, which is only offered if the three years of training have been completed.

The office of the Minister of Families, Suzanne Roy, points out that several paths lead to qualification, for example a certificate of one-year college studies accompanied by 5,000 hours of work in the network, or even recognition of prior learning.

Quality declining

Earlier this year, the Auditor General of Quebec, Guylaine Leclerc, showed that 41% of educational childcare services did not offer quality services.

His report made a correlation between failure rates and the lack of qualified educators. The proportion of daycares that did not have a ratio of two to three qualified educators increased from 32% to 46% between 2018 and 2023.

After reducing ratios during the COVID-19 pandemic, Quebec has set itself the objective of gradually returning to a regulatory ratio of two qualified educators out of three by April 2027.

However, it will be practically impossible to get there, predicted the Auditor General.

Pay more at Costco

On Wednesday, the parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, questioned the Prime Minister about the difficulties of CPE to attract and retain educators.

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It often pays more to work at a Costco than to work at a CPEsaid Mr. Nadeau-Dubois. There are educators who clean on the weekends because life is too expensive.

François Legault recalled that the salaries of educators were increased by 18% three years ago and that scholarships of $1,500 per session were offered to attract students to this DEC.

The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) promised to complete the network of CPE by March 2025. According to Québec solidaire, the government will not succeed.

This week, the CAQ rejected an opposition motion that called on the government to improve working conditions to encourage attractiveness and retention.

Negotiations continue, despite threats of strike in CPE

Tuesday, the Minister of Families, Suzanne Roy, admitted that in the context of the negotiations, the retention of educators is one of our concerns and that there is efforts to be made to be more attractive.

Furthermore, she added that everything is not black, [car] in the last three years, on net, we have 7,500 additional educators in the network.

François Legault also recognized that 7,500 educators, it’s not enough, we need more than that, because the needs are growing.

In 2021, the government set itself the objective of recruiting 18,000 educators by 2026. It is therefore still far from its objective.

Thousands of educators affiliated with the CSQ threaten to open the CPE at 10 a.m. Friday. As for the CSNthe educators affiliated with it have given themselves a five-day strike mandate.

The latest news, the Legault government offered a 12.7% increase to educators over five years, which would increase the starting hourly rate of a qualified professional to $24.34 per hour.

The President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, says she is ready to make a higher salary offer to educators in CPEbut not without compensation.

The 17.4% increase granted to the Common Front [et aux autres organisations dont les ententes sont conclues] was based on considerations – in terms of flexibility regarding the organization of work – which have a real impact on services. Discussions could continue in this direction.

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Pauline Marois calls for better pay for educators

At the origin of the creation of CPE As a Parti Québécois minister in 1997, former Prime Minister Pauline Marois called for better treatment of educators on Wednesday on -.

I am very sad and it affects me a lot. We should better recognize their profession, pay them more, give them better working conditions.

For me, a teacher, an educator, should be considered as important as a nurse or a doctor.

In Prince Edward Island, the entry wage was increased to $29 per hour. The training programs are filled to the maximum and the CPE of the province have no difficulty recruiting candidates.