Just Days Before School Starts, Quebec Faces 8,558 Teacher Shortage

Quebec Education Minister Bernard Drainville attempted to reassure parents Wednesday as he confirmed the province is still missing thousands of teachers just days before the start of the school year.

Despite what the minister described at a morning news conference as a “big challenge,” he said the government’s goal is to ensure no classrooms are forced to close for lack of teachers.

The minister noted there were at least 8,558 vacant teaching positions—1,859 full-time and 6,699 part-time—in the province as of last week, more than three thousand more than the official, though possibly incomplete, number at the same time last year.

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“I was a parent. I know what back-to-school is like. It’s stressful,” Drainville said. “It’s even more so when you ask yourself, ‘will my child have a teacher in their classroom?'”

“We’re working very, very hard to ensure that we fill as many positions as possible between now and the start of the school year.”

He insisted he is optimistic despite the immense staffing shortage, pointing to the province’s ability last year to fill most of the more than 5,000 open teaching positions that remained in the weeks before the school year started.

Drainville admitted, however, that Quebec will have to continue to rely on what he called “not legally qualified” individuals—who don’t have teaching certificates or degrees—to fill classrooms. He repeated that his goal is to have at least “one adult” in every classroom by the time schools reopen next week.

Commenting on the situation Wednesday, Premier François Legault said there was no magic solution to fix the shortage given that it takes years for students in education programs to finish their teaching degrees and enter the workforce. He issued an appeal to existing teachers to “not give up” despite the challenges plaguing the education system.

Meanwhile, Drainville also announced his intention ban cellphones in most Quebec classes, saying the devices are a distraction for students. He said he plans to bring the issue before the provincial cabinet, with a directive going out to schools “as quickly as possible” thereafter.

The directive would only apply to public elementary and high schools and would still allow teachers to use mobile phones for lessons.

“Cellphones are taking up more and more space in the lives of our young people,” the minister said at the Wednesday news conference. “What we want is for our children to be 100 percent concentrated in their classes.”