Drainville to focus on seven top priorities to improve Quebec’s education system
Posted January 26, 2023 12:03 pm.
Last Updated January 26, 2023 1:24 pm.
Quebec’s Education Minister, Bernard Drainville, held a press conference Thursday to clarify his vision on how to improve educational success and tackle some of the major issues affecting the system.
He announced seven top priorities that will help guide his mandate.
Citing major shortages of qualified teachers in the system, Drainville aims to create a new “fast track,” allowing those who already have a Bachelor’s degree to become certified teachers much quicker.
He wants to increase the number of public schools that offer specialized programs – like arts or sports concentrations, which, he believes, will facilitate the educational success of students who choose projects that correspond to their interests.
While Drainville willingly admits the status quo for teaching French is unacceptable and that teaching French is a top government priority, no real details about any solutions were offered.
More money for school renovations and pilot projects
Another priority will be investing more money in the renovation and construction of new schools.
Drainville also promises to expand the scope of pilot projects of classroom aids, which would allow teachers to have another adult with them in the classroom to help them meet the daily needs of students.
The government also aims to improve vocational training at the secondary level, in order to graduate 30,000 additional students in this sector over the next four years.
Finally, Drainville also promised to improve the collection and sharing of data in his department, which is currently insufficient.
Don’t forget school support staff, union urges
In response to the Minister’s promises, the Federation of Public Service Employees (FEESP-CSN), the largest union group of school support staff, issued a statement.
They urged Drainville not to overlook them, and insist that attracting and retaining support staff should be a priority for the minister.
More than 60 percent of support staff have a precarious status due to few paid hours and broken schedules. Improving their salary conditions should also be a top priority, the union says.
“While Quebec is offering 20 percent raises to its senior civil servants, some 600,000 workers in the public sector are being ‘offered’ a 9 percent raise over five years. What message is the government sending?” says the press release.
In their statement, Frédéric Brun, vice-president of the FEESP-CSN reminds Drainville of their contributions.
“Who welcomes the children every morning? Who ensures the cleanliness of their places of learning? Who takes care of them when they are on daycare? Who supports teachers in the classroom? Who turns off the lights at night? It’s the support staff. Mr. Drainville, don’t forget that.”
Enormous challenges
The challenges remain enormous in the education sector.
Quebec is concerned about high school French test failure rates. The pass rates for the 2022 uniform examination of the Quebec Ministry of Education are down almost everywhere in the province compared to 2019.
While the three-year pandemic has a lot to do with the failure rates, it still raises serious concerns about the quality of French teaching being offered.
