The recruitment of teachers is slower as the school year progresses: there are still 140 teacher positions to be filled in Quebec schools.
Posted at 2:21 p.m.
The most recent report from the Ministry of Education published on Friday indicates that between September 7 and September 14, only 20 teaching positions were filled, so that there are still 140 full-time teachers to be found to work in provincial schools.
The Cree School Board alone, in Nord-du-Québec, has 49 vacant positions. The Montreal school service center is looking for 25 full-time teachers.
At the start of the school year, on August 27, the government report showed that there were just over 500 teachers to be found for the current school year. At that time, school administrators were already observing that recruiting teachers was more difficult than in previous years.
The staff shortage does not only affect teachers. Three out of four schools are facing a shortage of educators in their daycare services, estimates the Association québécoise de la garde scolaire (AQGS). This is an “untenable situation”, which means that in many schools, each educator must take care of more children.
Educators therefore find themselves with 35 or 40 children under their supervision, which is double the ratio established by Quebec.
“The net result is that there is an obvious decline in the quality of services offered in school daycare services. Parents are being refused services or are strongly encouraged to give them up, we are forced to explode the educator-child ratios, we have to hire staff who do not have the required skills,” said Réjeanne Brodeur, the President of the AQGS.