It is not “acceptable” for primary school students to see more than fifteen teachers in a single school year, but it is a situation caused by the shortage of teachers, says the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville.
What there is to know
It is due to the shortage of teachers that students have seen around fifteen teachers pass through their 1st grade class.D year, in Montreal, said the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville.
The situation is not “acceptable,” said Minister Drainville. She is not unique to this class, testifies another teacher from Montreal.
It happens that the people who are called upon to replace in classes are simply not qualified to do the job, says the president of the Montreal Association of School Directors.
“We must reverse the shortage if we want to avoid situations like those recounted in The Press [mercredi] morning are happening,” he said Wednesday.
This “situation” is that of a class of young people of 1D year of Montreal. These students have experienced very little stability since the start of the school year due to numerous successive replacements, a “waltz of back and forth” sometimes “chaotic”, described the mother of a child in this class to The Press.
This is not a situation that is acceptable, except that it is a situation that we unfortunately have to live with given the shortage of teachers.
Bernard Drainville, Minister of Education
The case of the Dollard-des-Ormeaux school is not unique. A teacher from another elementary school in Montreal testified to The Press only children of 1D year did not have a stable teacher before the beginning of March.
“To my knowledge, no parent has expressed concern,” she said, while adding that a large majority of students do not speak French outside of school.
“Several children have parents who are not equipped to support them at school,” adds this teacher, who fears reprisals if she is identified.
At the Montreal Association of School Directors (AMDES), we also point out the shortage of teachers to explain that students experience such changes in class in a single year.
“The people who can replace are inexperienced or not entirely qualified. It’s difficult, they don’t have all the tools and the task seems complex to them,” says its president, Kathleen Legault.
Sometimes, she said, substitute teachers leave because they simply aren’t capable of teaching.
“We welcome someone and we realize that there is no class management, that the person does not master the content, does not master French sufficiently… we cannot keep them,” illustrates Kathleen Legault.
Quality of teaching
In a report published a few months ago, the Higher Education Council (CSE) expressed concern about the consequences of the teacher shortage on students.
“All students suffer the consequences of the shortage of teaching staff, in particular by seeing several people parade through their class, sometimes on the same day, when their teacher has to be absent,” wrote the Council in particular.
The succession of several substitute teachers “breaks the routine and exposes students to variable quality of teaching,” added the CSE.
It is especially at the start of the school year that parents complain about too much teacher turnover, says Sylvain Martel, spokesperson for the Regroupement des committees de parents nationaux du Québec (RCPAQ).
Even after two or three changes in the year, it begins to have a little impact on the student’s sense of belonging and involvement in their class. If you have to start again each time, you won’t move forward.
Sylvain Martel, spokesperson for the Regroupement des committees de parents nationaux du Québec
While waiting for the shortage to resolve, what can be done to ensure stability for students?
The spokesperson for the RCPAQ explains that when a young student transfers from school due to a redistribution of the territory, for example, we will “protect” him in the following years. “The registration policies are made like this,” he said.
Perhaps we could consider protecting students who have undergone too many changes of teachers in a school year.
“These students who have seen several people in their class this year, could we guarantee them teacher stability, at least for next year? », asks Mr. Martel.
With the collaboration of Hugo Pilon-Larose, The Press