Quebec Education Minister wants students to continue learning during the strike

QUEBEC – The upcoming strike in many Quebec schools should not be considered by students as a “break” or “vacation”, warns Education Minister Bernard Drainville.

Speaking at a press scrum in Quebec City on Thursday, Drainville urged schools to provide what children need to continue their learning “just a little bit”.

“I hope that school principals, school service centers and teachers will actually give the children the materials they need to (…) continue,” he said.

“We mustn’t let it become a vacation, a spring break. Ideally, it shouldn’t,” he added.

Education unions were quick to react. According to them, teachers don’t have to do more to prepare children for strike days.

“They’re trying to make people who have been fighting for students for years feel guilty,” said Josée Scalabrini, president of the Fédération des syndicats de l’enseignement (FSE), in an interview.

Teachers who are accustomed to submitting a work plan at the beginning of the week will be able to do so next Monday, she added.

But essentially, “it will be up to families to decide what they do during these periods” of strike action, according to Scalabrini.

“Obviously, the strike is going to penalize people, that’s the very principle of a strike,” said Mélanie Hubert, president of the Fédération autonome de l’enseignement (FAE).

“If there’s no effect on anyone, it’s totally useless,” she argued.

The “Common Front”, which represents unions of teachers and support staff, has announced a walkout from November 21 to 23.

Next Thursday, if there is no agreement, the 65,000 members of the FAE will call an unlimited general strike.

In addition, Minister Drainville is not ruling out the possibility of extending the school calendar in order to resume school days missed because of the strike.

“The law prescribes 180 days of educational services and 20 pedagogical days. (…) I would say that it will very much depend on the duration of the strikes,” he asserted.

He indicated that the decision had not yet been made by the government, which remains hopeful of reaching a negotiated settlement with the unions.

Drainville made these comments on Thursday, on the sidelines of an announcement at Université Laval.

The government is allocating $19.2 million to the university to build a new pavilion dedicated to educational sciences. Work is scheduled to start in 2026, with completion two years later.

The new pavilion will accommodate an additional 175 students in teaching, psycho-education, guidance, sports intervention and school administration.

The Minister of Education said he hoped to attract and train more teachers. Of the 5,000 students who enroll each year in education, only 3,000 make it to the end of their course, he said.

“I’m convinced that this pavilion (…) is precisely the kind of very stimulating, very rewarding environment that I believe will give us, and Université Laval, the means to retain more of them.

“It’s going to be a very modern pavilion, using the latest technologies, which will also be very well adapted to the new school environments,” said Drainville.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 16, 2023.