Bernard Drainville could not have been more frank. As the new school year approaches, it’s not so much a question of making sure there is one teacher per class as making sure there is at least one adult in the classroom. “If possible with a ferry,” he said.

The times when the Minister of Education had to justify the abandonment of encrypted ballots or explain the concept transversal skills seems very far away. Given the shortage of qualified teachers, these essential questions seem almost trivial.

Health ministers have been used to being constantly involved in crisis management for many years; This reality now seems to have reached the Ministry of Education as well.

Following the saga of distance learning, which developed slowly during the pandemic, the position holder had to manage the entire file of ventilation of the classroom. Not to mention the problems related to the lack of drivers for school transport and the shortage of teachers, which have made headlines in recent years.

In a report submitted last spring, the Auditor General clearly documented the extent of the problem. As of June 30, 2021, 1,264 full-time and part-time teaching positions were held by employees who did not hold a Department of Education-issued teaching license or commitment tolerance, which is against the law.

In addition, 3,778 teachers did not have a legal qualification as of June 30, 2021, but had a commitment tolerance. While two-thirds of them had a bachelor’s degree, 10% had only a college degree and 1% had a high school diploma. These situations affect the quality of teachingremarked the auditor.

Gold, The situation has deteriorated significantly Since then, says the director of the Quebec Federation of Educational Establishment Directors, Nicolas Prévost. According to the organization, there are still around 5,000 full-time and part-time positions to be filled in the next few weeks.

How do you prioritize priorities?

In January, Minister Drainville presented the seven priorities he wanted to work on. Improving the quality of French classes was high on the list, but we wonder how that can be possible when we still doubt that there will be an adult in every class at the end of the month.

After the bill reforming the administration of school service centers was introduced, teachers’ unions criticized the minister for not setting the right priorities. Bill 23 is poorly received, first because it uses legislative tools to implement proposals currently being discussed at our negotiating tables, and second because it fails to meet the urgent needs of public schools.declared the President of the Autonomous Federation for Education, Mélanie Hubert, in a parliamentary committee.

Even if the shortage of teachers seems to be the most pressing problem facing the minister, the Court’s report showed the importance of not abandoning the major projects being carried out.

The Ministry of Education has very little information on the evolution of its workforce or even on the reasons that lead teachers to leave their profession. Data is not all collected in the same way by school service centers and departmental access to it is inconsistent. The draft law, presented in the spring, aims in particular to ensure a better exchange of information, which should ultimately allow the ministry to better plan its staffing needs.

The same logic applies to the seven priorities proposed by the minister earlier in the year. These included, in particular, accelerating the training of university graduates who aspire to teaching, or the widespread hiring of classroom assistants to relieve teachers.

In the months after his appointment to the Ministry of Health, Christian Dubé had stated in an interview The press The The challenge of every manager is to find a balance between managing what is urgent and managing what is important.

This is exactly the challenge Bernard Drainville will take on this fall. Tackle the most pressing tasks while making sure the more structural projects you’ve started get done.