There will be no bonuses to encourage psychology students to work in schools after their studies. Only those who agree to work in the health network will be able to receive an additional $25,000, a “nonsense” denounced loud and clear by the union federation representing education professionals.
Its president, Jacques Landry, simply cannot believe it. “We are a little shaken,” he drops.
Last week, the Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, accompanied by the Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant, announced that psychology students who will commit to working for two years in the public network at the end of their studies will receive an additional scholarship of $25,000.
However, the Federation of Education Professionals (FPPE-CSQ) has just learned that those who work in the education network will not be entitled to it.
The school network risks finding itself even more deprived than it already is, fears Jacques Landry.
“It will accentuate the problem”, since in addition to having difficulty filling vacant positions, psychologists will be tempted to desert the school network to go and work in the health sector, he said.
“It’s really a vision that we don’t understand and that we want to denounce,” insists Mr. Landry.
180 vacancies
According to the most recent data from the Ministry of Education, made public by The newspaper in April, 180 full-time and part-time psychologist positions are still vacant in the school network.
The working conditions in schools are considered unattractive, since school psychologists often have to travel from one establishment to another, in addition to being often confined to an evaluation role rather than an intervention one.
In the office of the Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, it is indicated that the additional scholarship of $ 25,000 is offered by the Ministry of Health, which explains that it is reserved for students who will commit for two years. in the health network.
Another scholarship is however offered to interns in psychology, which encourages students to work in the public network, including that of education, says its press officer, Simon Savignac.
The Ministry of Education will be invited to participate in the work surrounding the implementation of the recommendations of the Task Force on the Optimization of Training in Psychology and Mental Health, chaired by former Minister Hélène David, adds -he.