One of Education Minister Bernard Drainville’s seven jobs is to propose solutions to the teacher shortage. How is he supposed to achieve that if he doesn’t make sure what the cause of this situation is and what it consists of?
A growing shortage…
So this deficiency is not new. It has its roots in the budgetary policies of the Bouchard government, which forced 8,514 teachers to retire in 1997. In 2003 even caretakers in CSDM schools replaced! For years, both in the Quebec government and in certain universities, we lived in harrowing denial. Minister Roberge also preferred to speak of regional shortages in 2020…
The reasons
One of the reasons for this deficiency is the working conditions. Despite the fact that the CAQ has narrowed the gap between the salaries of Quebec teachers and Canadian teachers, nothing helps.
We don’t always seem to understand that this dissatisfaction with a once-respected profession results from the devaluation of that profession. How can we forget this comment by Mr. Legault, who combined educational days with vacations?
Another factor is class composition. Due to the so-called three-speed school, teaching in the so-called “normal” classes is an obstacle course, both for experienced teachers and for recent university graduates.
Given the glaring lack of supportive services, we understand that the former are retiring early while the latter are refocusing their careers. An obvious sign of this situation is the failure of Minister Roberge’s ‘I Answer Now’ programme, which brought only 600 teachers to a class when we had hoped for 4,000.
Identify the problem before you solve it
The important question is whether the current education minister has a clear picture of the situation.
There are important factors before proceeding with any solution. How many teachers are there? How many in elementary school and how many in secondary school? And more importantly, in which subject is this shortage the greatest? We are again faced with an incredible lack of data as far as the Department of Education is concerned.
At the moment, the minister seems to be giving the impression of working towards a general solution, namely allowing a bachelor’s graduate to take a year’s training in pedagogy to find himself in front of a class. Is a selection made as to the subjects in which the potential candidates are already trained? Will we end up having accountants teaching French? Likewise, will we ensure that the actual needs of the school network are met? Will we end up with hundreds of English teachers when we need more in science?
Knowing how education is handled in Quebec, we wouldn’t be surprised.
Luc Papineau, Teacher, L’Assomption