There are still more than 1,000 teaching positions to be filled in Montreal’s three school service centres (CSS) and two English-language school boards. However, the general management of these organizations wants to be reassuring: they will be ready for the start of the school year, in particular by using teachers who are not legally qualified.
“With just one week to go before the return to school, we understand that with the 1,061 teaching positions that need to be filled, we understand that there may be concerns among parents and the general population,” said Paul St-Onge, Director General of CSS Marguerite-Bourgeoys, on Thursday, during a press conference held in Montreal with members of the management of the four other organizations representing primary and secondary schools on the Island of Montreal.
This represents 5.1% of teaching positions that are currently to be filled, while we still do not know how many positions are vacant in the metropolis’ schools for support staff and professional staff. This data will be made public on Friday by the Ministry of Education, said the Director General of the CSS de Montréal, Isabelle Gélinas.
“The labour shortage is a fact,” added Mr. St-Onge. “However, what is unfortunate is the fact that it is sometimes implied that the situation is linked to a lack of planning for needs. This is really not the case,” he added, insisting that “our teams have been mobilized for months to organize the start of the school year.” In fact, nearly 4,000 applications were processed this summer by the CSS and the three English-language school boards, according to a joint press release issued Thursday.
Unqualified teachers to the rescue
In order to limit the number of teaching positions to be filled in schools in the metropolis, school managers have again this year relied on hiring many teachers who are not legally qualified. However, in all cases, these are teachers who have completed post-secondary studies, even when they do not yet hold their teaching certificate, assured the Director General of the CSS de la Pointe-de-l’Île, Martin Duquette.
“The position of all school boards or school service centres in Montreal is to require at least university studies. So, all our teachers who do not have a certificate have at least a university degree,” he said.
Isabelle Gélinas, for her part, stated that “more than 93%” of teachers at the CSS de Montréal are qualified. “It fluctuates around 6 and 7% who do not hold a teaching certificate.”
More details will follow.