In Nunavik, Inuit territory north of 55e parallel to Quebec, students learn in a context different from that which prevails further south. While there are big challenges in schools — and in communities — there are also small miracles every day. The duty offers you a series of reports on this unique education system. Today: the backdrop behind the labor shortage.
On a beautiful Friday morning in April, children are playing street hockey in the village of Kangirsuk, rather than being at school. Raison ? “The teacher is sick”, they answer with a big smile, while continuing to beat on a pair of stockings wrapped in insulating tape which serves as a puck “because it hurts less”.
In Nunavik schools, the labor shortage is such that classes are regularly closed when a teacher is absent. Attempts were made to combine classes or to use a substitute teacher, but there were few applicants. “We only have one substitute, it’s not enough,” explains Alec Kudluk, center director at Sautjuit school in Kangirsuk.
It is impossible to bring in a substitute from another village, because travel between the 14 communities of Nunavik is only possible by plane. And it happens that villages are not served for several days when the weather gets involved.
“We try not to close classes, but sometimes we have no choice, we have to send the children home,” sighs Alec.
water problems
Sometimes teachers are sick or have to take care of a family member. But in Nunavik, “teachers are also absent because there is a water or sewer problem at home,” notes the school’s vice-principal, Winnie Grey.
In Nunavik, each house has a drinking water tank and another for waste water, which must be filled and emptied by tank trucks that do not always supply on demand. The slightest mechanical breakdown causes major delays that affect the entire community.
“Who wants to come to work when they don’t feel clean? Winnie Gray asks, with disarming candor.
In overcrowded homes, the situation can easily become unmanageable if the problem drags on for several days, especially if there are young children in diapers. The toilets are overflowing, dirty dishes are piling up and there are no more clean linens. It is not impossible then that the parent is absent even when the water returns, because he considers that it is more urgent to regain control of the household than to go to work.
The same situation prevails for the village daycare, which also has to close groups when an educator is absent, which triggers a domino effect in the community.
Labor shortage
The labor shortage in Nunavik has been documented for years, but the situation continues to deteriorate. Thus, at the start of the 2018 school year, there were 37 teachers short for the 18 schools of the Kativik School Board. In August 2022, it was 77. And despite the efforts made by the school board, not all of these positions have been filled during the current school year. In May, there were still 73 teachers short.
These are mainly the pupils of the 4e at the 6e year who are affected by the lack of teachers. Several have been deprived of school for weeks or even months, as some media reported recently.
Just over a third (39%) of the 546 teachers working in Nunavik schools are Inuit. Of this number, a quarter are legally qualified, graduates of a master’s training program given by McGill University and the University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue.
The others follow this training, which allows them to work under the supervision of a master while studying part-time. This obligatory passage is not always easy, recognizes Lizzie Thomassie, educational advisor at the Sautjuit school.
She went through this program almost 40 years ago, when she was a single mother of two children. “I worked during the day and studied at night. Three times a year, we had to participate in training in a village. It was a lot of work, but I was young, I was able to take it! she says, laughing.
In total, with maternity leave, Lizzie will have taken eight years to complete the program. And today, it is she who encourages the next generation. “I tell them it’s a lot of sacrifices, but they’ll get through it. »
Among teachers who are not originally from Nunavik, 56% hold a teaching certificate. The others are often spouses of teachers who decide to lend a hand at school.
Shortage of housing
As if the situation weren’t already complicated enough, the housing shortage is still hampering the hiring of staff. Indeed, it happens that positions cannot be filled due to a lack of space to accommodate employees.
In desperation, center manager Alec Kudluk sometimes offers new employees to live with roommates. “Not everyone is comfortable with it, it’s mostly young people who accept,” he says, laughing at the absurdity of the situation.
The school board must manage more than 400 housing units, but there are still 160 missing. North of 55e At the same time, housing construction costs about $1 million per unit. The materials are transported by boat and the period during which work can be carried out is limited by the cold. Each year, the school board sends its requests to Quebec, which decides on them.
But everything is interconnected. Lack of housing and water supply problems do not promote staff retention, which generates greater turnover and new orphaned classes. In June 2022, the Centrale des unions du Québec published a report in which its members explained that water-related problems had “enormous repercussions on their physical and mental well-being”.
“Governments must finally act,” the union wrote. How can we think of ensuring the retention and attraction of staff knowing that they will live in these conditions? And what about the Inuit who raise their children in housing and in conditions that do not make their daily lives any easier? It’s time for things to finally change! »
This report was produced in part with the financial support of the Kativik School Board.