Labor shortage: Schools are looking for nearly 900 teachers

A few days before the start of the academic year, the shortage of teachers reached new heights Newspaper.

According to the results of an internal survey conducted by two school administration associations, 889 jobs are to be filled in about 500 public schools in the province. These are regular positions and part-time replacement contracts.

However, this figure represents only a fraction of the school network needs, with a total of 2,300 primary and secondary schools in the public network. This partial report does not include any school on the island of Montreal.

The shortage of support staff is even greater: more than 1,200 jobs need to be filled in nearly 500 schools, especially daycare educators and special education teachers.

“It’s not improving, unfortunately, it’s getting worse,” said Nicholas Privost, president of the Quebec Federation of Directors of Educational Institutions.

“It’s very extensive and it lasts until midnight. We hope there will be more unfilled positions at the beginning of the school year than last year,” said Carl Ovelet, president of the Association Quabocois du Personnel de Direction Descols.

The students lost support

One explained that school principals should “make choices” so that every student has a teacher at the beginning of the school year, even if the positions are replaced in the next few days.

Specialist teachers will be responsible for the classes, losing students who are struggling with additional support.

The mentorship program, which began in the spring, is also at risk of suffering.

“You have to say it because parents need to understand it. We prioritize having a teacher in the classroom before any kind of support,” Nicholas Privost stressed.

The shortage is so alarming, he said, that it is also necessary to put a brake on the development of new 4-year kindergarten classes for the next two years. “We have tough decisions to make to make sure we have enough teachers. You have to ask yourself these questions,” he said.

Ask students to help

For his part, Carl O’Leary called for more deals with universities and CEGEPs so that students can come to the school network. “We’re also trying to see if the adults in secondary 4 or 5 don’t give a hand,” he said. Everything is really on the table, because we are short. “

In the Montreal area, data on the matter were not available yesterday from directors of the Montreal Association of Schools.

The decline in immigration last year, due to the epidemic, could lead to a decrease in the number of franchise classes so that teachers could be released to other student groups, one explained.

Manpower lock

Jobs must be filled at about 500 schools in Quebec a few days before the start of the school year *

• Teachers: 889
• Support staff: 1206
• Professionals: 265
• School Principals: 67

^{* There are about 2,300 public schools in the school network. This partial report does not take into account schools located on the island of Montreal.}

^{Sources: An anthology of two internal surveys conducted by the Association Quabicois du Personnel de Direction des Ecoles and the Federation Quibicois des Principals d’Ablismentes d’Todes.}

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