“It was good, but still too short! Summer is over and thousands of students are returning to class this Monday. A school year that could be marked by pressure from teachers.
Posted at 9:19 am
Parents and children were in a good mood in front of the Sainte-Cécile school in the Villeray district.
Marie-Noëlle Prestat and Julien Giraux accompanied their daughter Anna, 6, who is in 1st grade.
You’ve seen the headlines about the teacher shortage, but École Sainte-Cécile is lucky, all positions are filled. “We received an email from the teacher so we are reassured,” said Mr Giraux.
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How did your child return to school? Was there a teacher in his class? A functioning childcare? We want to hear from you.
The Director General of the Montreal School Service Center also assured that everything was going “very well” with regard to recruitment.
“We still have a few positions to fill: 97% of the positions in the primary school are fully booked, and around 95% of all positions,” explained Isabelle Gélinas.
She believes her CSS has “improved compared to last year” considering the enrollment of 4,000 students in one year.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
First grade teacher Mélanie George calms down one of her students
The President of the Montreal Teachers’ Alliance painted a different picture.
“The reality is that many teachers are keeping the school at a distance. We know that some teachers are still missing. The problem is that we have teachers coming in and some leaving at the same time,” says Catherine Beauvais-St-Pierre, who talks about resignations and sick leave.
Teachers’ negotiations with Quebec could have an impact on classes over the next few weeks.
“There will be certain leverage,” says the Alliance’s president, who explains that teachers “will refocus work on the classroom and potentially wrap up things that are less important.”
For example ? Extracurricular activities may be cancelled. “That’s not much compared to what students lack on a daily basis,” says Catherine Beauvais-St-Pierre.
The members of this union have accepted an indefinite general strike mandate. As with all teachers in Quebec, her contract expired in March.
Marie-Hélène Roch, mother of little Gustave, who started his first year on Monday morning, lamented the “undervaluation of education in the eyes of the government”.
If teachers came up with more visible pressure tactics, she would “strongly” support them, she said.