Fermont | A parent as a teacher since the beginning of the year

The shortage of teachers hits so hard in Fermont that a mother has to teach in the absence of a qualified teacher in this town of 2,200 inhabitants. An “inconceivable” situation, denounce parents.

Marie-Eve Morasse
The Press

Since the beginning of the school year, the pupils of a class of 5^e year of the École des Découvertes de Fermont have in front of them a mother who volunteered when the head teacher of the group went on sick leave.

The school tried to find a qualified teacher, without success. “When she saw that this class had no teacher, a mother agreed to take care of it. She does what she can,” says Catherine Simard, whose son is in this class.

A month ago, about twenty parents wrote a letter to the school administration to denounce the situation.

The mother who is in front of the class “cannot be held accountable for the results of the pupils knowing that she is not a trained teacher and that little teaching will have been done during the 1^D stage”, we read there.

“We have nothing to say against her, lucky we have her! But she does the basics, she does not have the pedagogy to teach children, ”says Edith Caron, instigator of this letter.

“We have no leeway”

A person not legally qualified is responsible for this group of 5^e year, confirms Richard Poirier, director general of the Fer school service centre.

“I have support in orthopedagogy which has been added to the class, a special education teacher, we are trying to put resources in mentoring to accompany this person”, says Mr. Poirier.

The parents say that for several weeks the children had no homework to do and until last Friday no exams to take.

“There is someone who makes the lesson plan for the substitute and she follows that. It is still progressing a little bit,” says Catherine Simard, who observes that the mother who lends a hand has “a lot of pressure on her shoulders”.

The recruitment of qualified teachers in Fermont is “more intense this year”, admits the director general of the school service center of Fer.

“For several years, it was a place where we could attract people more easily than at present,” says Mr. Poirier. Only in Fermont, he estimates that three additional teachers should be hired. Across the school service center: ten.

“We are vulnerable: if there is a teacher who becomes disabled, we have to roll up our sleeves and find a way to organize ourselves. I have no leeway,” says Mr. Poirier.

Calculation method

How does he explain then that in the weekly assessment of the teacher shortage released by the Ministry of Education, it is indicated that there is no shortage of teachers in this service center?

“The Ministry lists full-time positions. A replacement is not a full-time position, ”says Richard Poirier, who refrains from commenting on the calculation method of Quebec with regard to the teacher shortage.

While waiting to find out if the qualified teacher will be back next month, Edith Caron is doing what she can with her son to make up for the lack of learning in class.

“I try to work as much as I can with my son: I go on the internet to find exercises, I go to the Alloprof site to explain notions in French. But I’m not a teacher, I’m a nurse! “says M.^me Because we.

“We want the teacher to come back as soon as possible,” concludes Catherine Simard.