Two pieces of news have darkened the sky above the heads of families who rely on school daycare services to get to the end of their week other than on their knees.
The first in the form of a painful reminder of the shortage affecting this fundamental sector. The second through new directives which could mean that, for lack of supervision, children from the Center de services scolaire des Mille-Îles (CSSMI) could be returned home at lunchtime. The decline is so frank, so great, that it is hard to believe that it is even considered. And yet, he is.
No one fell from their chair when they discovered The Journal of Montreal figures from the most recent survey carried out by the Ministry of Education. Dated February 28, this collection, in which 71 of the 72 school service centers took part, posted nearly 1,000 uncovered teacher positions and just over 500 childcare educator positions to be filled. In addition to another thousand orphan positions, such as special education technicians, directors or psychologists.
That’s a lot of loose meshes in the net, but as long as it holds, families are ready to face a few headwinds.
That was before the scenario imagined by the CSSMI for the next school year threw a cold shower on hundreds of families in the northern suburbs of Montreal. The same causes often producing the same effects, all parents in Quebec have shuddered at the prospect of seeing their daycare service forced to become absentee subscribers.
The CSSMI explains that these organizational changes are motivated by new rules imposed by the ministry. These changes hold up well on paper. The MEQ wants to reduce the differences in the financial contributions required of parents for both school daycare services and lunchtime supervision. It also wants to allow better integration of the daycare service within the school and its educational project, in addition to standardizing the ratios. To all this, we say bravo.
The problem is that the real hits hard and is applied differently on the ground. Unveiled by Radio-Canada, the CSSMI scenario provides for a substantial increase in financial contributions from parents. This price shock is accompanied by a warning: the place of children at the table will no longer be guaranteed. The center wants to be reassuring: suspensions of services will be announced in advance and marked out according to the age of the children, the distance to home and the specific needs of some.
And what does Quebec say? He washes his hands of it, on the pretext that it is up to each governing board to define the operating rules for daycare services. In doing so, he closes his eyes to an unforgiving context. Inflation and scarcity combined are already forcing school communities into an endless series of choices. Some will inevitably lead to more inequities, even to unacceptable interruptions of service.
At the Center de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM), for example, daycare services have reduced their snack budget (which varies according to the deprivation index) because of the drastic price increase. Some have compromised on the quality and variety of products offered; others have reduced their daily supply to three or even two snacks per week. These setbacks are all the more heartbreaking as food insecurity plagues 31% of households with minor children.
This does not prevent beautiful outbursts of solidarity. Last month, Le Nouvelliste came over for lunch at Sainte-Marie Elementary School in Saint-Boniface. Made aware of the school’s recurring difficulties in filling its on-call periods, the community joined forces with the school: teachers, parents and grandparents responded present. They come regularly to lend a hand to the team in place.
But the use of unqualified personnel is not an easy task. Far from it. What is imperative is to promote this unloved profession, underpaid and burdened by thankless schedules split into three. The contract is not thin. With inflation and a job market that keeps an eye on everything that moves, daycare services are singularly lacking in arguments.
Launched last fall, a pilot project now gives educators the opportunity to offer their help to the class, which allows them to have more interesting schedules. Hundreds of schools take part. This is already an inspiration that we should consider formalizing.
Above all, it is time for the Legault government to take note of the fact that handing over so much power to the establishments also has its setbacks. Bespoke, so popular and longed for, can quickly become a slippery slope when we give up on maintaining common principles. This is the danger that threatens daycare services today, and Quebec has a duty to counter it.