Faulty furnace delays Quaqtaq school opening

Students in Quaqtaq are still not in class after the first day of school was delayed by repairs to the furnace. According to the school board, the furnace was emitting fumes and noxious odours.

“I have two kids who will be going to the school, but my daughter, who is turning five next month, it’s supposed to be her first school year this year,” Lena Ezekiel told Nunatsiaq News.

“They said it might open on the 28th, but then they found mould in the kitchen, so they were saying they don’t know when the school will open.”

Ezekiel and other community members have taken to social media, voicing frustration and concern over the delay at Isummasaqvik School, and the overall lack of facilities for youth in the Northern Village.

“Quaqtaq has about 400 population and there’s more children and youth than adults,” Ezekiel wrote on Facebook. “We have very old buildings and most of them are closed now.”

She listed the swimming pool and arena, both in need of renovation, and the youth centre, which doesn’t have a toilet.

“Daycare centre was closed due to mould two years ago and it keeps having problems with the water pump and furnace,” she wrote.

And issues with the school, she told Nunatsiaq News, go back to a glycol smell that’s lingered since 2015.

“We seriously need help from the government, for the sake of the children to have a safe place to be at,” she wrote.

The school year was also delayed last year in Quaqtaq and other communities, due to the late arrival of the sealift with materials for renovations.

“We want a new school,” said Ezekiel. “Our younger generations, I believe they deserve a big new school.”

In general, classes began across Nunavik between August 12 and August 15, with Innalik School in Inukjuak starting a week later due to construction delays.

Some teacher vacancies filled in August

A push for recruitment has brought teacher vacancies down from 84 on Aug. 9, to 56 vacancies as of Aug. 23, said the Kativik Ilisarniliriniq general director, Harriet Keleutak. All principal and vice-principal positions have been filled.

While the board was able to recruit 28 teachers over just a couple of weeks in August, the shortage is still greater than it was at this time last year, affecting approximately half of Nunavik schools.

Of the vacancies, Keleutak said 18 are homeroom teachers, consisting of 16 second-language teachers and two Inuktitut teachers.

“Other Inuktitut teaching vacancies relate to culture classes, religion and Inuktitut as a subject for students between Grade 4 and Secondary 5,” she said.

But recruitment will continue through the school year, Keleutak said.

The salary scale and benefits for Nunavik teachers are determined by Quebec’s ministry of education, but employment packages for teachers in Nunavik include isolation premiums, moving expenses, three yearly trips in and out of the community and a food cargo allowance.

They also include subsidized housing at a low monthly rate.

“There were no extra incentives offered this year, but the school board will be looking into ways to provide more attractive packages,” Keleutak said.

And they’re looking at different ways to step up the recruitment process itself, to get more teachers in place.

“One immediate option we are considering, in consultation with the teacher union, is conducting our annual teacher recruitment campaign earlier,” she said. “I am hopeful that changes in this regard will be implemented soon.”

Another is working with current employees, within their professional networks, to reach out to prospective teachers.

“The situation we are facing this year also highlighted the need for continuous in-person recruitment efforts in Nunavik,” said Keleutak. “This is something we will be looking at.”

Temporary solutions in place

While the board continues to recruit more teachers to fill vacancies, school administrators are working with what they’ve got to keep classes going.

This can mean merging classes or offering teaching positions to staff such as behaviour technicians and teacher trainees, said Keleutak.

As well, individuals in the community can step in on a temporary basis while recruitment continues.

Currently, the Kativik Ilisarniliriniq school board has a student population of 3,460 students at the primary and secondary levels, among the 14 Nunavik communities. And this population continues to increase every year.