ESMB trying to retain staff amid teacher shortage in Quebec

The English Montreal School Board (EMSB) has been trying to fill their open vacancies amid the staff shortages in Quebec.

Three months into the school year and there are more than 4,000 unfilled positions in schools across the province.

According to data from the Education Ministry, around 800 jobs for psychologists, speech therapists and special education teachers remain vacant.

“It is worrisome, obviously, but that’s a province-wide figure and it’s a province-wide problem,” said EMSB Chair Joe Ortona. “The one main factor is that there’s a higher salary in the private sector than in the public sector. So even, you know, the people that we hire aren’t necessarily planning on staying long-term and many do leave, and they go in the private sector where they’re making more money.”

Sonia Managò is a teacher at Laurier Macdonald High School in Saint-Leonard.

She said she loves her job, but admits that having classrooms with over 30 kids has become a challenge.

“They are starting salaries at $51,000-$52,000. For the amount work that we have to do and what we have to deal with in class with kids who have learning difficulties and kids who are hyperactive, big class sizes. For the amount of money that a teacher starts with, it’s probably not the most attractive.”

Managò added that kids have also become more challenging to deal with in classrooms because of their addictions to cellphones.

“Kids are a lot more difficult today compared to when I started teaching,” she said. “We didn’t have cellphones. Kids had no cellphones. They were able to think on their own. They were socializing. They were socializing with teachers as well. There was a sense of great community which still exists today, but it’s not quite the same. Students are very addicted to phones. The moment the bell rings, they just leave. They go to their locker. They want to be on their phones.”

Currently, there are 769 vacant positions in primary and secondary schools in Quebec – which marks nearly a 10 per cent increase since August.

However, according to the Education Ministry, the number of teaching positions that need to be filled has decreased.

“We have ongoing recruitment happening at the EMSB. The situation in the English boards is much better than what it is in the rest of the province. We’re always looking to hire personnel. People can go on our website and get that information. The government needs to find a way for these positions to be attractive so that not only can we fill them, but then we can retain that personnel,” said Ortona.

Nearly 2,000 support staff positions remain vacant in Quebec.