Nunavik’s teacher woes worsen

MONTREAL — As the first day of school in Nunavik approaches, rookie teachers were in Kangiqsujuaq last week for a crash course on teaching and living in the North.

The orientation session is an attempt by the Kativik School Board to prevent the problems experienced by rookie Qallunaat teachers.

Usually they’re young, on their first full-time teaching contracts, and surrounded by a new culture within communities that are unfamiliar to them.

The KSB suffers a 60-per-cent turnover in its teaching staff every two years, forcing it to import 50 new teachers each summer.

In the past, some new arrivals have turned around and headed home. In one tragic event, a rookie teacher committed suicide.

Teachers in demand

Finding and keeping good teachers isn’t easy in Nunavik.

“The situation this year is about the same as last year,” says KSB recruiter Renée Carrier.

Despite an aggressive advertising campaign in a variety of media, including the Internet, the KSB captured only 300 applications — a mere quarter of the 1,200 it received just a few years ago.

The drop is caused by rising school enrollments in the South, where school boards in the provinces are spending more on education and offering attractive pay and benefits to young teachers.

The drought has left the KSB short of qualified, competent instructors and means most Nunavik students will end up with inexperienced teachers who are fresh out of school.

But those are the lucky ones. Some won’t have any teachers at all on the first day of school. The KSB still needs at least eight teachers to handle English-language classes.

Kids in classes without teachers will either stay home or sit in class with temporary supervisors.

Teachers to get bonus

Next year, a promised bonus for KSB teachers may soften the crisis, but school board officals say money is just one motive behind teachers’ reluctance to work and live in Nunavik.

The new collective agreement between the Northern Quebec Teachers Association and the KSB calls for an annual recruitment-and-retention bonus for professional and teaching staff.

All certified teachers will get a bonus of $3,500-$9,000 a year, depending on length of service and place of employment.

“This is no magic recipe, but at least it’s something positive,” said François Badin, chief negotiator for the KSB.

The new deal also calls for a partial reimbursement of cargo costs for teachers — another welcome perk, especially for imported staff who order food from the South.

The KSB council of commissioners has already endorsed the proposed agreement.

The union has recommended it, although the union’s 300 members in Nunavik haven’t voted on it yet.

All schools in Nunavik will be open by Aug. 24.