(Quebec) Bernard Drainville is distributing blame to unions and universities to explain the drop in teaching enrollment this fall, in the midst of a teacher shortage. However, he is opening the door to paid internships to attract candidates.
“If we are to reverse the trend and succeed in promoting education and encouraging young people to choose careers in education, it is not just the Minister of Education who will be able to achieve this, it is society as a whole, I spoke about unions, universities, but I am talking about Quebec society as a whole, including the media,” Mr. Drainville said at a press briefing on Thursday.
The Press reported this morning a drop in enrolment in educational programmes, sometimes by as much as 10, 15 or even 20%, which worries the minister.
“What the figures revealed by The Press “What they tell me is that we still have a lot of work to do to enhance education,” he said.
Mr. Drainville first praised his accomplishments. Since he took office, he noted, he has been able to improve teachers’ pay conditions, has deployed classroom aids, and has given 5,400 new permanent positions to “contract” teachers.
Unions must present good news
During question period, he deplored the fact that the Québec solidaire member, Ruba Ghazal, did not recognize these advances, which does not help recruit new teachers.
He made a similar criticism of the unions. “The discourse cannot just be education is hell,” he said. These organizations should, every time they make a critical statement against the education network, make a parallel statement where they highlight “teachers who are happy and who make a difference in the lives of children to come out and say it.”
He also points the finger at universities, which, according to him, are dragging their feet in offering short training courses in pedagogy to teachers without a certificate, with the exception of TELUQ.
I am the dean of a Faculty of Education this morning and I look at these figures, I say to myself, we cannot continue as before. We must find other ways.
Bernard Drainville, Minister of Education
The drop in admissions should be a wake-up call for them to open up “to other avenues for accessing the teaching profession.”
“That’s why I’m advocating for universities to create fast-tracks for teachers who are already in the classroom but who don’t have a certificate, so that they can get a basis in pedagogy to be able to access the certificate,” he said.
Paid internships
Mr. Drainville, however, is opening a door that had been closed in March by his government: paying for teaching internships. With the $11 billion deficit, the Minister of Higher Education said in the spring that “in the current context, it is not possible for the government to take this path.”
The Minister of Education indicated that he is working with Mr.me Déry “to get there.” “Eventually, we will have to get there,” he said. Mme Déry specified that the scenario envisaged would be to pay for internship 4 in teaching. “We are currently looking at the scenarios,” she said.