Tough Lesson: Thousands of Unqualified Teachers in Quebec Schools
Quebec faces a growing reliance on unqualified teachers amid a severe shortage
Quebec, Montreal, Unqualified Teachers, Education System, Teacher Shortage
Montreal: So, there’s this situation in Quebec where a lot of teachers are working without the proper qualifications. Monique Henry, for instance, has been teaching English for nearly 20 years but never got officially certified. She’s had to figure things out as she goes along, which can be pretty tough.
When she first started back in 2006, she faced a lot of challenges, especially with managing her classroom. Since she didn’t go through a formal education program, she missed out on learning those essential skills. “You just kind of wing it and learn over time,” she said. It’s a bit of a sink-or-swim situation.
Henry is not alone. There are many unqualified teachers in Quebec, and experts are worried about how this affects the quality of education. The province is facing a serious teacher shortage, and it seems like they’re relying more on these unqualified folks to fill the gaps.
Some of these teachers might have degrees in other fields or none at all. They come from all sorts of backgrounds, but they all share one thing: they aren’t certified to teach. Normally, teachers in Quebec need to complete a degree in education and get a teaching license, but with the current shortage, the rules have been relaxed.
As of December, there were over 9,000 unqualified teachers in Quebec’s public schools, and that number is only going up. A report from the auditor general even showed that in one school year, there were more than 30,000 unqualified teachers, mostly substitutes. That’s a huge chunk of the teaching workforce!
Experts like Nicolas Prévost, who heads the Quebec federation of school administrators, expect this trend to continue. With fewer people enrolling in education programs and many teachers retiring, the situation is likely to get worse.
Geneviève Sirois, a professor at Université TÉLUQ, agrees. She points out that the number of unqualified teachers has doubled in less than a decade. While some of these teachers might have experience, those without proper training can really impact student learning negatively.
Imagine a first grader trying to learn to read and write from someone who doesn’t know the basics of teaching. It could really set them back, especially if they’re struggling already.
In Montreal, there’s Matthieu Théorêt, who has worked as an unqualified teacher. He prefers substituting because it’s less pressure. But he often finds himself thrown into classrooms without any prep time, relying on his colleagues for help. This year, though, his coworkers are too worn out to assist him as much as they did before.
It’s not just the teachers feeling the strain; everyone in the school is affected. “Everyone has to pick up some kind of organizational slack,” he said, which adds to the stress for everyone involved.
On a brighter note, the province is trying to address the issue. They’ve started new programs to help fast-track certification for teachers and are even giving provisional licenses to students in training. But for many unqualified teachers, there’s not much incentive to get certified since they can still find work and earn decent pay without it.
Henry is finally on her way to getting her teaching license. After a brief stint as a 911 dispatcher, she returned to teaching thanks to a new remote-learning program. “I always wanted to go into teaching,” she shared, and it’s great to see her pursuing that dream.
This situation in Quebec is definitely something to keep an eye on as it unfolds.