Start of 2025-2026 school year will have been one of the worst, say Quebec Liberals
Posted September 8, 2025 1:06 pm.
Students and staff experienced one of the worst starts to the school year ever due to the “chaos” caused by Education Minister Bernard Drainville, according to the Quebec Liberals.
During a press briefing on Monday outside a school in Charlesbourg, Quebec City, Liberal education spokesperson Madwa-Nika Cadet recalled the $570 million in cuts announced in June.
Then, in the middle of summer, the Minister of Education backtracked, announcing a reinvestment of $540 million for student services.
It’s too little, too late, said Cadet, who was accompanied on Monday by Éric Pronovost, president of the Federation of School Support Personnel.
Pronovost said that 2,749 special education technicians (TES), including 336 in the Capitale-Nationale region, left the system between May 14 and Aug. 25, 2025.
“People in the field are experiencing instability and anxiety,” Pronovost said. “For us, this is the worst start to the school year we have ever experienced.
“When we talk about a government that says it wants to promote education, well, it’s clearly not its priority,” he added.
Pronovost and Cadet also made a connection between the shortage of TES and the increase in violence in schools.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
