This text is part of the special issue on Trade Unionism
The Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) is tired of dealing with the problems afflicting the education sector piecemeal. It is calling for a major collective reflection on the educational project that Quebec wants to give itself.
For several years, the start of the school year has been marked by a frantic race to ensure that all students find a teacher in front of them on the first day of class. Again this year, thousands of them were missing in mid-August, despite the increasingly flexible selection criteria of the Ministry of Education. By 2024, almost one in ten teachers in the public network is not legally qualified.
This shortage does not only concern teachers. The network also lacks school educators, education technicians and professionals, such as educational advisors. According to Éric Gingras, president of the CSQ, the shortage of workers is likely to continue for a few years.
“I still believe that we have tools to improve the situation, including the new collective agreements, which include hard-won benefits. They provide a much better basis for working than what we had in recent years,” he maintains.
The most recent collective agreement provides for salary increases of more than 20% over five years for almost all salary levels of teachers. They also obtained the addition of 4,000 classroom assistants throughout the network and the allocation of additional resources for groups considered more difficult due to their distribution. They will, however, have to deal with certain recruitment challenges, which could slow down the achievement of these objectives.
A reflection of society
“We now need to tackle a range of issues, such as violence, screen use and digital well-being, the impact of artificial intelligence and new programmes, and also think about issues of social diversity and equal opportunities,” adds the activist.
The CSQ president recalls that in 2016, the Conseil supérieur de l’éducation already judged that the Quebec school system remained very unequal. In particular, it denounced the proliferation of selective special programs (arts-studies, sports-studies, international programs, etc.) and private institutions. In 2022, a report from the Institut de recherche et d’informations socioéconomies estimated that 44% of high school students attended private schools or a selective special program.
These kinds of problems won’t be solved by putting band-aids here and there, according to the political priorities of the moment, believes Éric Gingras. “We need to conduct a major collective reflection to define a real educational project for Quebec, from early childhood to higher education,” he says.
He does not claim that unions hold all the solutions. On the contrary, he calls for bringing together all stakeholders in the sector, including staff, management, school service centres, government, researchers and communities.
Especially since the problems afflicting schools are only a reflection of the issues that are affecting our societies, says Éric Gingras. The union representative points out that the increase in violence in schools, which threatens both students and staff, is also present in other workplaces and in society in general. The opportunities and challenges caused by the arrival of artificial intelligence and the widening of social inequalities also extend beyond the walls of the school.
For strong democratic processes
Schools and unions are also paying the price, just like the media or governments, for the increased distrust of institutions and experts. At its recent convention in June, the CSQ highlighted the need to strengthen trust in our institutions. According to the CSQ, this involves greater equality of opportunity and better access to strong democratic processes. “To succeed in leading a truly constructive discussion on our educational project, we must be able to rely on a certain level of trust,” says Éric Gingras.
The CSQ convention also gave members of the union a final opportunity to salute Réjean Parent, who chaired the organization from 2003 to 2012. The leaders sent him a video clip in which those present gave him a standing ovation. He died a few weeks later. “Réjean Parent played a significant role in our organization and more broadly in Quebec unionism, particularly through his fight for a more egalitarian school system and for the rights of those who work there, and our members have not forgotten him,” emphasizes Éric Gingras.
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