Last September, there was a shortage of a hundred teachers in schools in Quebec. Substitutes took turns in some classes for weeks. Faced with the outcry, the Legault government was – with good reason – in the hot seat.
Then, at the beginning of January 2023, our colleague Ariane Lacoursière released disturbing news: a dozen 13-year-old children have not had a teacher for almost all of their lessons since… the start of the school year. No regular teacher. No substitute. Person. The children hardly ever go to school.
Let’s be clear: these children are not getting the education guaranteed to them by law.
Was there an outcry in public opinion? No. Has the Legault government been hounded to find solutions? No. For what ? We will say it without putting on white gloves: because this distressing story takes place in the community of Akulivik, in Nunavik.
This is not the only class closed this year in Nunavik because there is no teacher. 7th graderse year in Inukjuak did not attend school from September to January. (Fortunately, we have just found a teacher in Inukjuak and another in Akulivik.) In Kuujjuaq, a first cycle elementary class closed for two weeks because there was no teacher. Other breaks in service occur for certain courses (eg math, science).
If it happened in Sherbrooke, Rimouski or Sept-Îles, we would talk about it every day, and the Minister of Education would have a very bad time.
In the 14 villages of Nunavik: go around, there is nothing to see.
However, it is very worrying. According to the Kativik School Board, these breaks in service cause students to fall behind in school and become discouraged, particularly in high school. ” [Les élèves] say that they feel ignored and devalued by the fact that ‘no one wants to come and teach them,’” the Kativik School Board said by email. Read this statement a second time, it’s worth it to grasp the importance of the problem…
Faced with aboriginal communities, particularly the Inuit, whose living conditions are very difficult, we, as a society, are guilty of indifference. A distressing indifference, morally indefensible, and which must end.
The social issues in Nunavik are numerous and complex. Half of the 13,000 Inuit live in overcrowded housing. The suicide rate is 13 times higher than in the rest of Quebec. The secondary school graduation and qualification rate (after seven years) is 23% in Nunavik, compared to 82% in Quebec.
The bare minimum for the government of Quebec is to offer the Inuit public services of a quality at least equivalent to what is offered to all Quebecers.
Yes, there is a shortage of teachers everywhere in Quebec. Guess where she hits hardest? In Nunavik, where the Kativik School Board is unable to fill 11% of its teaching positions (62 vacant positions out of 546), compared to 2% in Montreal.
For years there have been fewer and fewer teachers “from the south” interested in coming to teach young Inuit. For the first time this year, we are unable to do the bare minimum: find one teacher per class for all Inuit children.
We understand that it is not easy to recruit teachers to teach in Nunavik.
However, Quebec can make a gesture that would help in the short term: allow teachers who go to Nunavik not to lose their seniority in their school center “in the south”. This is not always the case today. We would have to negotiate with the unions, but decency requires that the two parties agree quickly on this, without waiting for the renewal of the collective agreements. A dozen children from Akulivik are waiting for a teacher, against the law.
In the medium and long term, to improve education in Nunavik, there are many other measures to adopt, in collaboration with the Inuit communities, by discussing nation to nation.
We must aim to increase the high school graduation rate, while recognizing that this social issue and the solutions to deal with it go far beyond the walls of the school.
For the 23% of Inuit who graduate, they must be offered the option of continuing their professional or college studies in Nunavik, rather than being uprooted “in the south”. We must develop the virtual school and offer more on-site training adapted to the needs of Nunavik. Like the training of Inuit midwives, a program that has worked very well for decades.
The complexity of the situation should not serve as an excuse for turning a blind eye to school issues in Nunavik.
Especially when we are not able to provide a teacher in each class.
Education in Nunavik
Under the James Bay Agreement, the Inuit have the right to have their own programs. From kindergarten to grade three, children in Nunavik take their classes in Inuktitut, their mother tongue. In the fourth year of primary school, they choose a second language (French or English). They will take all their courses (second language, math, science, history, etc.) in this second language, while continuing to have Inuktitut and Inuit culture courses until the end of high school.
Read tomorrow: Health care
