Que. education sector still missing 1,331 teachers, 500 hired this week

Nearly 500 full-time or part-time teachers have started working at various school service centers in Quebec over the past week, according to the most recent data released on Tuesday, but there are still 1,331 spaces to fill.

In a press release published at the end of the day on Tuesday, the Ministry of Education wrote that 217 regular full-time and 1,114 part-time posts were still vacant.

In presenting its data, the ministry made a point of recalling that a “vacant position does not mean that a class is without a teacher.”

“Until the position is filled, the school service center or the school board provides solutions to maintain the service,” such as assigning other teachers.

A few days before the start of the new school year, Education Minister Bernard Drainville made a public call to retired teachers, and anyone who might want to try teaching, till fill the then-vacant 8,500 teaching positions.

Last week, Drainville was asked if the ministry expected there to be an adult in every classroom to start the school year. He said that he hadn’t heard of any shortages to that end.

“I haven't had any reports so far of a class where there wasn't at least one adult. I didn't have a report on that. I imagine that I would have had one if that had been the case,” he said.

In a press release on Tuesday, Drainville thanked his teams and education staff for their work to fill the remaining vacancies.

“I again, and again, would like to warmly welcome and thank the staff of the 72 school service centers and school boards as well as all the school teams who worked hard last week for the start of the new school year,” he wrote.

“Your efforts have made it possible to significantly reduce the number of vacancies. We continue to work on finding solutions to overcome this shortage,” he added.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 5, 2023