Absences in Quebec schools are currently so high that they are almost at the level of last winter, when Quebec was experiencing its fifth wave of COVID-19.
According to the most recent data provided to The Press by the Ministry of Education, there were 126,325 students who were not present in class as of Monday, out of a total of nearly 1.2 million students in the province.
This is precisely 10.14% of pupils, all levels combined.
Of this number, 7,401 were absent “for reasons related to colds / flu and COVID-19 (without a test or with a negative test)”, writes Quebec.
In comparison, the 1er February 2022, in the midst of the fifth wave of COVID-19, there were 129,595 students absent.
These days, many student absences are linked to the many respiratory viruses circulating, notes Kathleen Legault, president of the Montreal Association of School Principals (AMDES).
“Yes, there are absentees, we see it in the emergency room [pédiatriques]but there is no alarm in the schools, no explosion, and when the children come back from an absence, they wear the mask, ”says Mme Legault.
The president of the Quebec Federation of Educational Establishment Directors (FQDE) explains for his part that 10% of absent students is a little more than the absence rates usually observed, which are “around 5 at 7%”.
“It’s not dramatic, but it’s a little more than usual. When you are in the 10%, it starts to be a little more worrying, especially since the trend is on the rise and respiratory viruses particularly affect young people, ”says Nicolas Prévost.
On Tuesday, Public Health recommended wearing a mask in busy public places, except in schools and daycares.
Nicolas Prévost explains that in this regard, school principals rely on experts from Quebec.
He nevertheless says he is “surprised” that the measure is not applied in schools, “because there are a lot of people in a small space”.
Some schools have already started to take the initiative of recommending the wearing of masks to their students, adds the president of the FQDE.
Since the beginning of classes, the Ministry of Education no longer collects the absences of school staff. Nicolas Prévost explains that there is no “centralized system” to do so, but specifies that the Ministry of Education is currently working on it.
“Each service center has different software. So, [le ministère] is obliged to call each service centre, which calls the school principals. It can get heavy,” says Nicolas Prévost.
Among the Montreal directions as at the FQDE, we are not currently worried about the lack of staff.