Unions slam Quebec government over cuts to education budget

Quebec’s major unions that represent education professionals sounded the alarm Monday, saying budget cuts are making them “cynical” about how the school year will unfold.

Three unions, led by Quebec’s biggest union Central des Syndicats du Québec, held a news conference in Montreal to provide their thoughts after the Government of Quebec made a series of budgetary moves over the summer in the education sector.

Quebec Education Minister Bernard Drainville announced in June that the government intends to cut $570 million from the education budget, with staff being let go all around the province as a result.

In July, the provincial government changed course, putting $540 million back into the education system.

Union leaders say that amount isn’t enough, because it still leads to a decreasing number of education professionals for the rising number of students in classrooms.

“The government has broken the social contract in education,” said Éric Gingras, president of Central des Syndicats du Québec, in French.

“Not all young people are equal as of now, as the minister of education himself admits not all of them have access to the services to which they are entitled.”

Speaking to the situation in Nunavik, Gingras said an added issue for the Kativik Ilisarniliriniq school board is that teachers do not have a new collective agreement after their previous contract expired in 2023. Instead, they reached an agreement in principle in May which made Nunavik salaries less competitive than the rest of the province.

This problem is exacerbated by the amount of intervention Nunavik students need, added Éric Pronovost, president of the federation that represents educational support staff in the province.

“Students need so much help, the families need so much help,” he said in French, adding a strong school team should have the right amount of high-quality support professionals working in tandem with teachers.

He urged the provincial government to “take action” on this issue.

Nunavik will be starting the school year with 59 teaching vacancies, according to Kativik Ilisarniliriniq.

Thirty-five of those are for second language teaching positions and French and English, and 24 are in the Inuktitut sector.

Some schools are finding solutions locally, said Jade Bernier, spokesperson for the Nunavik school board. They are filling teaching positions with behavioural technicians and teacher trainees, with some classes being merged.

This problem is not new. At the beginning of last year’s school calendar, there were 71 vacant teaching positions, and there have been more than 50 vacant positions in Nunavik each year since 2021.

Both Salluit and Puvirnituq are starting the school year with two vacancies at the management level, with Puvirnituq’s Ikaarvik elementary school working without a principal.

Bernier said the school board is actively recruiting, with the situation evolving on a daily basis.

A spokesperson for Quebec’s Education Ministry did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment by Nunatsiaq News.