The shortage of teachers is hitting the school adjustment groups hard, where there are students with great difficulties.
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The consequences are sometimes “dramatic”, according to school workers, while several non-legally qualified teachers must be called in for reinforcement.
In the specialized class of Kallie, 14, there is no teacher this year. A special education technician supervises students with autism spectrum disorder, as was the case for much of last year, marked by high staff turnover.
“No work plan has been communicated to us. My daughter regressed, she had major behavioral problems,” laments her mother, Angele Belisle, who lives in Gatineau.
The lack of qualified teachers in special education groups also has considerable impacts on other staff members.
“Exhausted”
In a specialized school in the Montreal region, more than a third of the teaching positions were vacant at the start of the school year, indicates its director, who requested anonymity because she was not authorized to discuss with The newspaper.
However, inappropriate interventions can contribute to “jeopardizing” the safety of staff and that of students, she says. “We are already exhausted, we carry it at arm’s length. The collateral damage of COVID-19 is very much felt, those who were vulnerable are even more so, ”she drops.
In another specialized school, also located in the Montreal region, nearly half of the teachers do not have their teaching certificate. “It increases every year. Everyone is doing their best, but our students have big, big challenges. It adds pressure on other staff members, ”says its director, who also requested anonymity for the same reasons.
“Disaster Foretold”
For its part, the Coalition of Parents of Children with Special Needs of Quebec denounces the situation loud and clear.
“It is an announced disaster. Our children are the most vulnerable in Quebec, they deserve more,” insists its president, Bianca Nugent.
The story is similar on the side of the Autonomous Federation of Education.
“It’s a bit dramatic when it’s the students with the greatest needs who end up with the least trained teachers. Managing learning difficulties cannot be improvised,” says its president, Mélanie Hubert.