One week before the start of the school year, there are still 700 teachers to be hired in Quebec schools.
Posted at 9:00 a.m.
Updated at 9:09 a.m.
This is confirmed by the cabinet of Minister of Education Jean-François Roberge on Thursday. Asked about this by The Press at the end of the day on Wednesday, the minister said that he had not obtained this report from his ministry.
“You have to put things in perspective, it’s less than 1%, because there are more than 100,000 teachers, and we recruit them every day. It’s similar to what we had in recent years, around mid-August, “said the minister at the microphone of Paul Arcand, at 98.5 FM.
This is a “preliminary figure,” says Audrey Noiseux, the minister’s press secretary, who recalls that in school service centers, assignment sessions are underway.
“The Ministry of Education has never surveyed so early in August, so any comparison with previous years is impossible,” says Ms.me Noisey.
Last year, on the first day of the new school year on August 26, there was a shortage of 400 teachers across the province.
Minister Roberge says he is sure that no class will be orphaned at the start of the school year, in particular because of a recruitment campaign carried out last spring.
In recent years, the shortage of teachers has often been felt in Quebec schools and the number of unqualified teachers has increased considerably. Pupils have seen substitutes parade in front of them for months, while last year, parents were called in to help make up for the lack of staff in certain schools.