The day after the provincial elections, October 5 was World Teachers’ Day. Like education in the election campaign, recognition of the essential role of teachers in our society requires more political commitments in order to truly value teachers and the profession. The speeches that have inferiorized immigrants and their contribution to society heard in recent weeks lead us today to highlight, in particular, their contribution in Quebec schools by addressing two essential issues for the future of the profession teacher: equity of access to employment and the shortage of teaching staff.
While many classes in Quebec are still orphaned by a teacher, research on the professional integration of immigrant teachers has made it possible to document multiple obstacles hindering their access to employment, in particular for people holding a teaching qualification obtained in another country. In addition to the difficult working conditions characterizing entry into the profession such as precarious status, divided tasks, part-time, in several schools, outside of one’s field of qualification and with so-called difficult groups, etc., these teachers and teachers must take a single route to the teaching certificate, regardless of their training, qualifications and experience.
Although the Ministry of Education does not keep data on people who drop out during the requalification process, the stories and experiences collected in our research indicate that many immigrant teachers fail to overcome barriers related to recognition of their achievements and skills, in particular linguistic ones.
It is urgent that the prejudicial and inequitable conditions characterizing the path of immigrant teachers be reviewed to allow them to exercise their profession with dignity. The establishment of a system for recognizing prior experiential learning, the adjustment of the conditions for access to the certificate according to the profile and the differentiated needs of the candidates and the in-depth review of the probationary period constitute promising avenues for institutional change for increase equity.
In a context where the number of non-legally qualified teachers teaching in the Quebec school network is increasing significantly, the end of a single path for qualified teachers outside Canada could make it possible to increase the number of competent teachers in the Quebec school network and contribute to absorbing the staff shortage. The presence of these qualified teachers in our schools is first and foremost in the interest of the students and their right to a quality education. Thank you, teachers!