The first mission of the Minister of Education Bernard Drainville will be to make schools attractive enough to recruit staff, say unions and management. At the head of a huge ministry, Mr. Drainville will also have to avoid “getting swallowed up” by the machine, we observe.
Posted at 4:06 p.m.
Updated at 4:30 p.m.
The MNA for Lévis, Bernard Drainville, succeeds Jean-François Roberge, who served for four years as Minister of Education.
“We know Mr. Drainville, the radio host, we will have to know the Minister of Education,” said Eric Gingras, president of the Centrale des unions du Québec (CSQ).
He believes that Minister Drainville’s first project should be to stem the shortage of staff in schools, which includes teachers as well as specialists or educators in daycare services.
However, the Ministry of Education, “it’s a big machine,” says Mr. Gingras.
A “very big machine”, abounds Nicolas Prévost, president of the Quebec Federation of Educational Establishment Directors (FQDE)
“The Minister must not allow himself to be swallowed up by the machine, so that we can move forward on files,” said Mr. Prévost. It should not be about “consultation, after consultation, after consultation”.
“Yes, he must be close to the people on the ground, but there are decisions to be made and we have to decide,” believes Mr. Prévost.
He too places the shortage at the heart of the problems which the new minister must tackle. Student success should also be in his sights, he adds.
Dwell on the reality of Montreal
Bernard Drainville will have to pay attention to what is happening in Montreal schools, says Catherine Beauvais-St-Pierre, president of the Alliance of Montreal teachers.
“The concerns of Montreal circles were too often ignored during the last mandate. It is increasingly difficult to do our job: that is, to teach our students,” says Ms.me Beauvais-St-Pierre.
A vision shared by the Montreal Association of School Principals (AMDES).
“In Montreal, there are the challenges of francization, the decline of French, the reception and support of students from immigrant backgrounds and their parents, as well as measures adapted to vulnerable environments,” lists its president Kathleen Legault. .
Minister Déry will have to “revalue higher education”
Another change of guard: Pascale Déry is appointed head of the Ministry of Higher Education, a position left vacant by the departure of Danielle McCann from political life.
The passage of the former journalist at the Montreal Economic Institute, from 2016 to 2019, raises eyebrows the president of the National Federation of Teachers of Quebec (FNEEQ), Caroline Quesnel.
“It worries us a little in the perspective that we see the dawn of the government’s desire that higher education be at the service of the labor market,” laments Ms.me Quesnel, in reference, in particular, to the Perspective scholarship program which aims to counter the labor shortage.
The trade union federation has “very high expectations from the Ministry, which has stood still for 4 years”, underlines the trade unionist.
According to her, the main challenge for Mme Déry will be to “revalorize higher education”, which requires above all an increase in the funding of CEGEPs and universities.
Also, the pandemic has caused major transformations in higher education that will need to be “better marked out”, she adds.
For its part, the Quebec Student Union is delighted to see the maintenance of a ministry exclusive to higher education.
Its president, Samy-Jane Tremblay, hopes to get to work quickly with the new minister. His most urgent file will be the adoption of a draft regulation that would reduce the contribution of parents in the calculation of financial assistance, argues Ms.me Tremblay.
This change, proposed under the mandate of Danielle McCann, would benefit thousands of students whose financial assistance would then be enhanced.
To deal with inflation, the QEU is also asking for the renewal of the $205 increase in financial assistance, put in place during the pandemic and extended until 2023. (modified)