Teachers who must remotely monitor the many students absent from their classes due to COVID-19 and who do surveillance must receive compensation for their overtime, says the Federation of Education Unions (FSE).
Posted at 4:03 p.m.
“We no longer want to hear the minister [de l’Éducation] say that the start of the school year is a success. For the teachers, it is a failure in terms of stability and academic catch-up that must be done with the students, ”says Josée Scalabrini, president of the FSE.
As of last Friday, there were 47,700 students across the province and 4,500 teachers forced to stay home due to testing positive or coming into contact with someone with COVID-19.
In primary school, 31,809 students are isolated, while 14,541 in secondary school.
These figures do not reflect the reality on the ground, says Mr.me Scalabrini. “The number is true. The problem is that the 48,000 absent students are never the same,” she says.
In the past few days, several teachers have testified that many of their students are absent every day because they are isolated.
Quebec provides that when a student’s absence is more than two days, he must be offered “services on a daily basis, allowing him to continue his learning, despite his absence from school” .
However, says the FSE, the interpretations of this instruction vary according to the service centers where one is. Some teachers have to call each of their absent students after their day at work.
“We have to stop telling teachers that they are beautiful and extraordinary. We won’t just say that to a doctor who is going to do more operations, to a nurse who is working overtime. They will be compensated,” continues Josée Scalabrini.
On Wednesday, the other teachers’ union in the province, the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE) also accused the Minister of Education of “doing everything to try to embellish the situation and minimize, even camouflage, problems experienced”.
The union cites in particular the issue of air quality in schools, but also the numerous absences of students due to COVID-19. “It is as if the entire city of Shawinigan had been placed in isolation,” notes the FAE in a press release.