“What you’re left with”: A shortage of qualified teachers who can’t hold a class

While experienced teachers who have to start from scratch after moving to the regions struggle to hold a class in their field, the number of unqualified teachers continues to grow.

“I am not on any list right now [de rappel]. That’s one No Man’s Land. They tell me: you will have what is left”, Leon* (fictitious name) testifies.

She has ten years of experience as a full elementary school teacher in Montreal. When she moved to Laurentians, she thought it would be easier to have her own class at a school in the Center de Services Scholaire (CSS) des Mille-Îles.

She applied last spring, making several calls to CSS over the summer. “All I was offered were one-week contracts. Or, even to varying degrees.

However, Dominique Sauvé, president of the Syndicate de l’Enseignement des Basses-Laurentides, assures the Laurentians region that there is also a need for teachers.

“It worries me to hear that there are qualified people who can’t work with us when we need people.”

“Each case is unique, but it’s definitely worrying”, M^me is safe.

Evidence abounds

Quebec is currently facing a shortage of teachers in its schools, and to that extent they are increasing Turn to people who don’t have their patents of teaching.

However, publications of qualified teachers who have survived from one replacement to another abound on social networks.

This is the case of Caroline *, who has taught special education for over ten years in a hyper-advantaged district in the metropolis, a niche where shortages are acute.

Its clientele is huge and services are inadequate. “But I loved it,” she enthused. “I like challenges.”

She returned to live in her native area during the pandemic. Since then, she has only jumped from one small contract to another, unrelated to her experience.

“I eat, I teach. But there, I had the impression that I had extinguished myself.

Seniority will be lost

Teachers who change areas, and therefore CSS, keep their salary, but they lose their seniority. This is the case everywhere in Quebec under the national collective agreement.

Rules that change from one CSS to another prefer spaces to be entered in the popular list.

But in Montreal, the shortage is so obvious that it was possible to secure a long-term deal this summer without being on the priority list.

So many ask the question: Is their new area understaffed, or have unqualified teachers overtaken them in the race for assignments?

For its part, CSS des Mille-Îles ensures that all positions are given priority to legally qualified employees by email.

Qualified teachers who experience injustice

Qualified teachers feel a strong sense of injustice when they find themselves without a contract, but see someone get the certificate they want without it.

“I know a guy with a 4-year baccalaureate [en enseignement] It is “bypassed” [sic] By a person not legally entitled to this year’s contract […] The person only has a relevant baccalaureate, which has little to do with what we teach.

This testimony appears among many on Facebook on the same subject. Without the version of the concerned School Seva Kendras (CSS), it is difficult to ascertain whether these cases have violated the norms.

But one thing is certain: this kind of sprain exists, observes Josie Scalabrini, president of the Federation of Education Unions.

“I experienced it. I contested it. And I won the challenge,” said the man, who invites those aggrieved to contact their local union.

Ministry approval

Amelie* just finished her bachelor’s degree in teaching and is certified. During her four years of study, she was told she could easily land a contract at CSS des Faures in Bas-Saint-Laurent.

She could have gotten a full-time job in the field she studied, but in the end it came down to someone without a diploma.

“I was shocked and disappointed,” she sighed. “We have been assured that this will not happen.”

Rules were followed in this regard. The other person holds a “temporary teaching license” issued by the Ministry of Education to those undertaking teacher training. It provides equal rights to qualified teachers.

For Amelie*, it’s a “shortcut”.

“It creates discouragement,” admits Jean-Francois Gaumond, president of the Union of Education in the Mitis region.

Two sides

But there is a logic behind this. Along with the importance of skill, there is also the importance of consistency.

“We want the teachers who are in the school to stay there,” sums up Mr Gaumond. Hence a teacher who does not yet have a diploma, already knows about the students and the functioning of the establishment Could be a good candidate.

In the case of teachers who change employers, the idea of ​​allowing their seniority to continue is a “double-edged sword,” recalls Josie Scalabrini.

“I understand someone going through this. But you have to put yourself in the shoes of eligible people who have been in limbo for 10 years and suddenly their permanence is compromised because someone comes from somewhere else,” she explains.

At the time of publication, CSS des Faures had not provided answers to questions Newspaper.

*Fictitious names: Interviewed teachers prefer to remain anonymous to avoid retaliation from the school service center where they wish to be placed.