”Teachers are always fully engaged, but never fully appreciated,” says Daniel Boisjoli, president of SPEHR

”Teachers are always fully engaged, but never fully appreciated,” says Daniel Boisjoli, president of SPEHR

To celebrate the 28th teachers appreciation week, the ministry of Education chose « Entièrement engagés » as its theme, or ”fully engaged.” For the week of February 06 to February 12, 2022, on behalf of the Syndicat du personnel de l’enseignement des Hautes-Rivières (SPEHR FSE-CSQ), the union president Daniel Boisjoli is highlighting teachers for their engagment which is always at its maximum capacity, but not always appreciated to the same degree.

”I want to thank the teachers for always carrying the school forward, especially in difficult times,” Boisjoli says. ”Every day, their daily, multiple and volontary gestures have an imensely positive impact on the lives of our students. Teachers are fully engaged, but they are not fully recognized, particularly with regard to pay equity.”

Union representatives believe that this is a good opportunity to ensure that teachers are shown their value and the scope of their task, which, according to them, was already problematic before the pandemic is put under review. The shortage of teaching staff, particularly in the Pontiac within the Center de services scolaire des Hauts-Bois-de-l’Outaouais (CSSHBO), seems to be a reality affecting educators in our area.

“Absolutely, there have been discussions with school service center to try and find solutions, but issue is being delt with at the national level, or they’re currently trying to find solutions to fill the current shortage,” Boisjoli says. ”A committee exists within the federation, but including representatives of the school service center to find concrete ways of countering the staff shortage. We have made demands, and I am convinced that the school service center regularly informs their representative. As long as we do not improve working conditions for our teaching staffs who are already at their wits’ end, will stay whrere we are now.”

The full interview in French with the president of the Syndicat du personnel de l’enseignement des Hautes-Rivières (SPEHR), Daniel Boisjoli, is available here.