The number of teachers who have resigned in five years at many school service centers has never been higher, which seems to be a pandemic accelerator.
“When I started, I had a maximum of nine students per class. For the year, we went to 14, even though we built a room for 12 students, ”testified 40-year-old Mary-Josie Goulet.
She taught plastic arts for 15 years at a Montreal school in a youth center, one of the largest clients that Youth can afford.
She had a job and a pension fund. But in August, she “fell into a vacuum”.
In the midst of an epidemic, despite the cultural surroundings being shaken, she resigned to accept a contract as a props assistant on a film set.
“When I got back in the evening, I was physically tired, but not mentally,” said a man with three children, though it had happened earlier.
- Listen to Pierre Nantel’s interview with CSQ Federation of Teachers’ Associations President Josie Scholabrini on QUB Radio:
Complexity of tasks
The growing number of Quebec teachers recently made a similar decision.
The Ministry of Education does not keep data on exit in schools. Newspaper Hence the statistics obtained from twenty school service centers (formerly school boards).
The number of resignations has increased by about fifteen since 2016. At 12 centers, peaked in 2020.
For example, 29 teachers resigned last year from the Navigators Service Center in the suburbs of Quebec. This is three times more than in 2016.
The Montreal School Service Center, where more than 200 teachers have resigned, has the most impressive statistics.
“This is a reflection of what we have heard,” said Josie Scholabrini, president of the Federation of Teaching Unions.
For her, this phenomenon is evident due to the complexity of the teachers ’work, as they have students with high and diverse needs.
In addition to this there are epidemics, health activities that many people consider to be flawed, virtual lessons, students not attending due to loneliness, and so on. For the same course, a teacher can make three times as much preparation because of these adjustments, she explains.
“Not in their place”?
Often, leaders who resign say they are “not in their place,” as Sylvain Mallet of the Autonomous Federation of Teaching observes, as they have repeatedly been placed under impossible circumstances as excellent teachers.
For Angelo Soares, a professor of management science, these departures reflect the way governments have treated teachers for 20 years.
“It’s like nurses and orderly,” he said.
The Office of Education Minister Jean-Franకోois Roberz recalled that “we are in an extraordinary year” and that registrations of future teachers at universities have been on the rise since the Future Coalition was elected. Quebec.
“Education is a priority for the government”, as indicated by an email from its press secretary Genevieve Cote.
A lot of people are closing their doors in Montreal
The “abandonment” of teachers has reached an impressive level at the Center de Services Scholar de Montreal (CSSDM), which, according to many, is struggling with a “vicious circle”.
Last fall at once 161 teachers resigned from CSDM. This equates to a total of 168 exits in 2018-2019.
At this rate, one can expect this year’s number to exceed the maximum of 201 voluntary departures reached in 2019-2020.
In addition to the tidal wave affecting various areas, several factors are exacerbating the phenomenon in the metropolis: a small number of students, allophones or teachers with learning disabilities list the president. From Montreal, Catherine Beauvois-Saint-Pierre.
Urban Exodus
Philip Balthazar, 32, taught physical education in Montreal. Unable to find a property on the island, he went to Privost in Laurentians.
“The pandemic played a role,” admitted the man who lost his seniority, reduced his salary and now teaches English on contracts at the Center de Services Scoiler de la Riviere-du-Nord.
But he regrets his choice: he now has a house, land … and a private ice rink in his backyard.
Still, some elements are specific to CSSDM, according to MTo me Beauvois.
Mary-Josie Goulette takes six months off every four or five years to “recharge her batteries”. “Help teachers make it less flat” breaks she laughs.
“As long as you do the job, you can do it well, too.”
However, requests for deferred leave and phased retirement are rejected more often than ever before. Due to the lack of staff, “they are cutting everything that fits in the schedule,” Ms.To me Beauvois.
By removing these minor rights, CSSDM creates a “vicious circle” because it encourages teachers to change service centers, which increases the shortage.
Alain Perron, CSSDM’s media liaison, recalled his role in keeping these figures in perspective when compared to a total of 9,000 teachers.
Resignations Growing
Montreal School Service Center
2016-2017: 110
2017-2018: 131
2018-2019: 168
2019-2020: 201
2020-2021: 161
(As of November 30, 2020)
Laval School Service Center
2016-2017: 27
2017-2018: 39
2018-2019: 44
2019-2020: 53
2020-2021: 37
(Until December 31, 2020)
Sources: Relevant school service centers
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