The large influx of refugees, particularly via Roxham Road, puts the school network under pressure. No less than 224 new reception classes, aimed at francizing these children, have been opened in Quebec schools since the beginning of the school year. The Legault government intends to send the invoice to Ottawa.
These additional students amplify the teacher shortage, which is peaking in Quebec. Some 4,783 primary and secondary teachers have the status of “not legally qualified”, according to the most recent data from the Ministry of Education transmitted to the To have to.
“There is no compromise to be made on the reception of refugee students. These children, we school them, ”said Thursday in an interview the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville.
“It’s not up to the children to pay for the difficult conditions that brought them to us,” he adds. We’ll take care of it, and very well. But we must recognize that this puts pressure on our human resources and on the spaces available for classes. We stretch our resources to the maximum. »
The cost of the education of refugee students “will be part of the claim that we will make” to the Trudeau government for the arrival of refugees via Roxham Road, said Bernard Drainville. At the time these lines were written, the Ministry of Education was trying to assess the magnitude of the sum.
The number of reception classes in the public network has jumped from 704 to 928 since June 2022 – an increase of 32%. The greater Montreal region is the most affected: the increase in the number of classes reserved for newcomers varies between 13% and 48% in the three French-language school service centers on the island. The increase in the number of reception classes is 32% in Laval and 34% at the Center de services scolaire Marie-Victorin in Longueuil.
“Ideally, a solution should be found at Roxham Road. Mr. Trudeau has to take care of that,” says Bernard Drainville.
Curb the shortage
The Minister of Education also has plenty to deal with with the shortage of teachers, which is reaching a proportion rarely or never seen. Because of the shortage of staff, 4783 teachers do not have the certificate normally necessary to find themselves in front of a class at the preschool, primary or secondary level.
To replenish the ranks of the profession, Bernard Drainville excludes making the bachelor’s degree in education sciences free – an extraordinary solution proposed by a teaching union. “Free education is not on the program,” said the Minister of Education.
Education students are entitled to scholarships of $5,000 per year, or $20,000 for the four-year bachelor’s degree. This assistance can reach $30,000 for recipients of merit scholarships, underlines the Minister.
Access to the profession
He is counting on a new fast track to accessing the profession, a 30-credit program intended for aspiring teachers who hold a bachelor’s degree in a subject taught at school, such as history, French or mathematics, for example.
This program is even shorter than the qualifying master’s degree of 60 credits already in the program of the faculties of education sciences. This master’s program is “too heavy, too long and does not correspond to the needs of future teachers”, he says.
“We will have to provide a bridge” for qualifying master’s students who would like to obtain their patent in 30 credits rather than 60 credits, adds the minister.
Under these conditions, what is the future of the four-year baccalaureate in education, which notably includes three internships? “We will first create the fast lane, says Bernard Drainville. Faculties of education may have to adjust to this new reality. »
The Minister is also counting on the hiring of teaching assistants, educators in school daycare services who are already in the schools. Many work part-time, with hours spread out between welcoming students in the morning, dinner time and leaving the children at the end of the afternoon. They could lend a hand to teachers in the classroom during the day, he explains.