Teachers with just a high school diploma

With a high school diploma, it is possible to become… a teacher. Four people with only a DES obtained last year an authorization from Quebec to teach in an elementary or secondary school. A situation that shows how much the schools are “badly taken”, say the directions.

Marie-Eve Morasse
The Press

During the 2020-2021 school year, the shortage of teachers brought more than 3,700 people without teaching certificates into the classrooms under a “commitment tolerance” granted by the Ministry of Education.

Ten obtained it on the basis of their high school diploma (DES) alone, learned The Press following an access to information request. Six were hired for vocational training, four for general youth training, the Ministry said.

This proves how “we are badly taken” in schools, says Nicolas Prévost, president of the Quebec Federation of Educational Establishment Directors (FQDE).

“I’ve seen it before: students who finished high school the year before, who are studying at college and who come to give their name. Often it’s going to be for short-term stints, not long-term contracts. But it happens. We are there,” said Mr. Prévost.

What give rise to unusual scenes. “You can find yourself managing your friends, who were in third or fourth high school the year before and who are in fifth. And you, you’re in CEGEP, ”illustrates the president of the FQDE.

In October 2020, the daily The right reported that a recent high school graduate had been hired to teach mathematics at a high school in the Cœur-des-Vallées school services center (CSSCV), in Outaouais.

“Before this year, we generally didn’t hire people who didn’t have at least a [diplôme d’études collégiales] to teach. For the first time, we had to revise our criterion downwards, ”explained the secretary general of the CSSCV, Jasmin Bellavance, to journalist Daniel Leblanc.

“Not the best service”

The number of non-legally qualified teachers in Quebec schools has never been so high in 10 years. “We have some very good ones, but we also have some that don’t do the job. It’s as simple as that,” says Nicolas Prévost.

For the Ministry of Education, a “break in service” is the absence of a teacher in a class. The FQDE sees things differently.

“If I find myself with a non-legally qualified person who does not have the tools to teach third grade, does the student have optimal service? The answer is no,” says its president.

Would such a situation be accepted in other professions? he asks.

Were there teachers with only a high school diploma in primary and secondary schools this year? At the Ministry of Education, we are informed that the most recent data on unqualified teachers are for last year.

The figures obtained by The Press, which include teachers in both general education for young people and vocational training, also indicate that 300 people who obtained a provisional authorization to teach held a vocational studies diploma. Nearly 400 others had college degrees.

The majority of non-legally qualified teachers (2055) hold a bachelor’s degree.

With the collaboration of William Leclerc, The Press