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Nearly 5,000 Quebec teachers have quit in the last five years: report

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Nearly 5,000 public school teachers with permanent positions in Quebec have quit over the past five years.

According to a report by French-language media outlet the Journal de Montreal, from 2018 to 2023, the number of teachers quitting increased by 76 per cent, for a total of 4,880.

"Our profession has been suffering for probably the last 20 years," said Steven Le Sueur, president of the union group the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers (QPAT).

QPAT said staff retention is a problem in English and French schools, with Le Sueur claiming 25 per cent of teachers leave within the first five years of their career.

While recent figures don't disclose why employees are quitting, Le Sueur said there are several core reasons.

"It's all about workload and cost, class composition and the support in the classroom with our special needs students," he said.

The province and its teachers' unions just renewed their collective agreements, and now the money is better, but little has changed regarding the workload, said Westmount High School teacher Robert Green.

"You won't find a single teacher in this building that is not spending a good part of their weekends and their evenings unpaid, you know, working, correcting, planning, doing all of that," he said.

The veteran teacher said that until the government listens to them and addresses their concerns, he thinks more and more people will leave.

 Quebec's Ministry of Education did not reply to a request for comment.

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