A week before the start of the school year, 700 teachers have yet to be hired in Quebec schools.
Posted 9:00am Updated 9:09am
Marie-Eve Morasse The press
This was confirmed by the cabinet of Education Minister Jean-François Roberge on Thursday. Questioned on the matter by La Presse at the end of the day on Wednesday, the minister said he had not received the 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 hire them every day. It’s similar to what we’ve seen in recent years, around mid-August,” the minister said on Paul Arcand’s microphone on 98.5 FM.
This is a “provisional figure,” says Audrey Noiseux, the minister’s press secretary, who reminds that mapping meetings are underway at school service centres.
“The Department of Education has never conducted a survey this early in August, so it’s impossible to compare with previous years,” explains Ms Noiseux.
Last year, on the first day of the new school year on August 26, 400 teachers were missing across the country.
Minister Roberge says he is certain that no class will be orphaned by the start of the school year, particularly as a result of a recruitment drive launched last spring.
In recent years, the shortage of teachers in Quebec’s schools has often been felt, and the number of unqualified teachers has increased significantly. Students have faced a parade of substitutes for months, while last year parents were called to fill staffing shortages at certain schools.