Quebec teachers refuse to carry out annual student count as pressure tactic
Mandatory student census held every Sept. 30 determines school-board funding
English-language teachers' unions in Quebec confirm their members did not complete an annual student count on Wednesday, in an attempt to put pressure on the government.
Every Sept. 30, schools across Quebec must count the number of students on their premises that day. The province provides financing to schools based on the number of the students enrolled.
The president of the Lester B. Pearson School Board's teachers' union, John Donnelly, said teachers took attendance as usual, but they did not complete the government census form.
The pressure tactic is meant to demonstrate how teachers are asked to do more than just teach, said the head of the union representing teachers from the English Montreal School Board, Peter Sutherland.
"A lot of teachers get burdened with extra paperwork, extra administrative tasks that really keep them from focusing on the classroom and on their students," he said.
The move was also a message to the school boards, Donnelly added.
"This is just another indication to the school boards that they should also be working with the government to get negotiations going," Donnelly said.
A spokesman for Quebec Education Minister François Blais said the pressure tactic will have no impact on the allocation of subsidies to schools.