Photo: Jacques Nadeau Archives Le Devoir Minister Drainville is to reveal the number of vacant positions in the school system on Friday.
The Parti Québécois (PQ) is criticizing Education Minister Bernard Drainville for withholding information about the staff shortage in schools.
“The data is there, Quebec has it, but for reasons that are strictly political, the minister refuses to share it,” lamented MNA Pascal Bérubé on Thursday. School service centres (CSS) have so far refused to disclose the data they have on hand on this subject.
According to the Fédération des centres de services scolaires du Québec (FCSSQ), the CSSs made this decision to avoid creating concern among the population, since the numbers regarding the shortage change quickly as positions are filled. “The CSSs did not want to give them right away because they had recruitment activities this week,” explained Caroline Dupré, President and CEO of the FCSSQ.
The CSSs sent the ministry data on vacant positions over the weekend. Minister Drainville is to report these numbers on Friday and update his dashboard. However, the PQ asked him on Thursday to do more quickly by sending “immediately the information concerning the teaching positions to be filled.”
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“The Parti Québécois denounces the withholding of information in complete contradiction with the intentions displayed by the government when it announced the education dashboard,” the party said. “The minister said [about] the dashboard last winter that it would be a 'mean exercise in transparency': it is time for this transparency to be something other than a slogan. The minister should provide school administrations with the data they need to prepare for the return to class as soon as possible,” added MNA Bérubé.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000In his opinion, this is an “example of centralization of decisions in Quebec City” and the “little consideration the minister’s office has for school management.”
The president of the Fédération québécoise des directions d’établissement d’enseignement, Nicolas Prévost, told Le Devoir on Tuesday that principals were unable to obtain figures before Minister Drainville’s press briefing. The CSSs that Le Devoir asked to quantify the shortage all directed us to the Ministry of Education.
CSS has all the information, according to Quebec
In a written statement, Minister Drainville’s press secretary specified that the office “does not withhold any information necessary for the proper management of schools.”
“School service centres have all the information concerning the schools in their territory, they are responsible for providing us with the data and carrying out class assignments. They do this in collaboration with school principals. They have everything in hand to continue recruiting, as is the case in several CSS,” wrote Antoine de la Durantaye.
Until the minister’s press briefing, Mr. de la Durantaye believes that it is “normal that we take the time to do the job well in order to give Quebecers the most accurate picture possible.” Subsequently, the dashboard will be updated “every week, as promised,” he assured.
The FCSSQ also suggested that the population be patient. “Let’s remember last year, what happened: there was data that came out quickly, and it made for a kind of unattractive picture! But that was the first stage of the assignments,” stressed Ms. Dupré. In two weeks last year, the number of positions to be filled went from 8,000 to 1,829.
Under the new collective agreements, several teachers find out their assignments this year earlier than usual. “I think it will help,” Ms. Dupré said. “All these people, who we confirmed very close to the start of the school year [previously], we confirmed them before. So, I dare to hope that we will have a number lower than 8,000. But at the end of the year, we will still be short of them,” added Nancy Thivierge, director of labor relations at the FCSSQ.
The ministry forecasts an increase of around 20,000 students for the coming school year — which is equivalent to a need for 1,000 additional teachers. The forecast increase is almost identical to that observed during the previous year, according to data from the ministry's dashboard.