Quebec to create 850 new jobs to help special needs students, in midst of teacher shortage

Education Minister Jean-Franois Roberge insists there are plenty of people available to fill hundreds of new positions for special needs students in Quebec, and his government is investing $70 million annuallyto ensure those roles are filled.

Roberge announced a series of measures Tuesday aimed at helping children with physical disabilities, learning difficultiesand other issues succeed in school.

"We have a responsibility tothese young people, and we have a responsibility to their parents," Robergesaid.

"Now I think hope is coming back in the system, and I hope that a lot of teachers and professionals will come back into the public system."

There are about 225,000 Quebec students with disabilities,and Robergeintends to hire a total of 850 new teachers, professionals and support personnel to help them.

Some are towork withvulnerable studentsin traditional classrooms, and others will be assigned to one of the 150 specialized classrooms the Education Ministry will be creating.

Retirees and recruits from next door

Quebec has a shortage of teachers, but Roberge saidthere are plenty of retirees who'd be willing to return to work,as well as staff now working in the private education system who can be recruited to fill the new jobs.

He says if every school board hired a handful of new people each, the jobs would all be filled.

Roberge also has his sights set on luring some teachers back to Quebec from Ontario.

"There are some Quebecers who cross the Ottawa River to teach in Ontario," Roberge said, but theFord government's planto slash some 3,500 teaching positions "may slow down the exodus."

According to the Ontario College of Teachers, there are 4,411 Quebec-trained teachers employed in Ontario.

An average of 130 make the move each year, largely attracted by the higher salaries next door.

"If there are Ontario teachers who are well qualified and motivated to teach in Quebec, they can come, for sure," said the minister. "There are several areas where there are shortages. We will welcome them. "

That said, he added, "I do not think the solution comes from stealing Ontario teachers."

'Package of measures' aimed at retention

To keep Quebec teachers in the province, the minister said he is deploying a "package of measures" to entice them to stay.

They includeincreasingthe salary of new teachers by $8,000 providingan entry salary of more than$50,000 a year.

"I am very confident that we will go through this crisis of scarcity within a few years with a Quebec solution," Roberge said.

The Fdration des commissions scolaires du Qubec(FCSQ), whichrepresents French-languageschool boards, doesn't share the minister's optimism when it comes to attracting teachers from Ontario.

There isn't likely a large number of Ontario teachers who'd be interested, the FCSQ's president, Alain Fortier, told Radio-Canada, citing the need for teachers to speak fluent French as a key roadblock.