Back-to-school with change in curriculum for Montreal students

It’s back to school at the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal.

On Tuesday morning, students at the Christ-Roi Elementary School in Ahuntsic were filing in for their first day of classes.

“Happy,” said Grade 2 student Leisha of being back to school. “Because I’ll reunite with my friends.”

And this school year, they’ll see a change in curriculum, with Quebec’s new Culture and Citizenship course, known as the CCQ, replacing ethics and religious culture.

“Just from the title, I think it’s a good idea,” said parent Francis Bibeau. “My wife is from Mexico, and I know they have a similar class in their school there.

“I always thought it was a good idea to have that type of lesson.”

In 2021, the CAQ government announced the CCQ would become a mandatory course addressing contemporary issues – and veering away from religious studies. 

Students from Grade 1 to secondary five will learn about culture and society in Quebec today.

“The Quebec region,” said parent Alfonso Lopez. “The history of Quebec is a really nice experience.”

It’s now the main method for providing students with sexual education, where they will learn about family compositions, gender roles, pregnancy and more. 

“I think it’s good that they get the information as early as possible,” said Marjolaine Bergeron, the parent of a six-year-old. “There are so many threats out there, they need to know, they need to learn what’s OK, what’s not OK, what it is exactly.

“Of course parents, we do our part. But to have something broad, something, I don’t know, generic that the school can bring and just enrich them.”

“It’s going to be a little different,” added parent Fedguer Michel. “We’re looking forward to the upcoming topics.”

“We’re going to support our girls. I think they’re going to adapt throughout the year with the topics.

“We’re not panicking about that.”

“There’s no reason why the kids should not be aware of that,” added Bibeau. “As long as it’s done the right way.”

Topics on the environment, democracy, Indigenous People will also be taught.

The Montreal School Service Centre says it’s ready.

“This year is really the first year of implementation,” said Pascale Gingras, the deputy director general of educational services and unit management at the CSSDM. “And like any change, well, it requires support, training.

“We already started training our teachers last year. It’s going very well.

“There are certainly some apprehensions but we continue to train our teachers in the field, we support them and we provide them with everything necessary so that the course goes very well.”

Steven Le Sueur, president of the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers says he expects the course to have “a difficult start” – across Quebec – since training is online – and there still isn’t a textbook.

“If you’re starting something new,” said Le Sueur. “We shouldn’t be going backwards.”

“We’re doing a new course, no materials and a little bit of training,” he added. “We should be doing a lot of training, have the course materials and then ready for the course. Some of it’s not going to be ready until the middle of September. It’s going to be an adjustment for sure.”

Quebec schools are also dealing with a shortage of qualified teachers. As of Monday, more than 3,800 positions remain unfilled.

“They always have that same stress at the beginning of the year,” said Bergeron. “So far they find the solutions, I guess, to fill the spots.”

“My kids,” added Bibeau, “they’ve had two or three teachers each, but every time there was a replacement, they were very good and very qualified, so I’m not worried.”

For now, top of mind for the young students is reuniting with their classmates and diving into their favourite subjects.

“Physical education and math,” said Grade 5 student Joaquil.

“Arts,” added classmate Samantha Lopez. “Because I like to make drawings at home.” 

“Français,” added Leisha. “Because I speak French.”