Kindergarten 4 years old | Classes close for lack of space

The Minister of Education is trying these days to “avoid the closure” of 4-year-old kindergartens in Lac-Saint-Jean, but elsewhere in Quebec, such a decision has already been made. This is the case in Lanaudière, where, due to a lack of space, the number of these classes must be reduced. Elsewhere, we think about it.

Next year, the Samares school service center plans to close nine 4-year-old kindergarten classes, reducing their total number from 23 to 14.

This is because, in certain sectors, for example Joliette and Saint-Lin–Laurentides, the growth in the number of students is putting pressure on elementary schools, which are overflowing.

“We have to prioritize 5-year-old kindergartens, to have room for all these students in the first place,” explains Maude Jutras, communications manager for this service center. Thus, it is the 4-year-old kindergartens that are sacrificed first if there are too many registrations in the other levels.

If we have too many registrations in certain sectors, elsewhere, it is the lack of children that means that we do not offer 4-year-old kindergarten. It is then necessary to pair the little ones of 4 and 5 years to open a class. Maude Jutras cites the example of the municipality of Notre-Dame-de-la-Merci, where seven students have been grouped together in a kindergarten class for 4 and 5 year olds.

“We try to accommodate the parents in this way,” continues M^me Jutras, who recalls that the territory covered by this service center is “very large”.

The lack of space could also lead to the closure of 4-year-old kindergarten classes at the Mille-Îles school service center in the Lower Laurentians.

Spokesperson Mélanie Poirier adds that more than 150 elementary classes are missing to accommodate the students.

A mother reported to The Press the closure of kindergarten classes in Saint-Félix-de-Valois, in Lanaudière. Her son, she says, had to change daycare three times. She relied on 4-year-old kindergarten to offer her “some stability”.

“And afterwards, we are told that there is a lack of manpower! Give us daycare options, give us good education, and we’ll be happy to come to work,” she wrote.

A difficult goal to achieve

In October, there were 1,584 4-year-old kindergarten classes in schools in the province. During the 2018 election campaign, the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) promised to create 5,000 full-time 4-year-old kindergarten classes during its first mandate. This number was later reduced to 2600 classes by 2025-2026.

There are on average 12.3 students per class in 4-year-old kindergartens, but each group can accommodate between 6 and 17 students, indicates the Ministry of Education, which recalls that registrations are made “on a voluntary basis”.

“The deployment must respect the real capacity of school service centers and school boards to offer the service. The network must deal with issues of space and available manpower,” writes Bryan St-Louis, spokesperson for the Ministry.

The recent example of the Pays-des-Bleuets school service center demonstrated the impact of the shortage of teachers on these classes. Last week, its director general announced that it had to close a dozen 4-year-old kindergarten groups in its school service center for the next school year due to a lack of teachers.

The Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, promised Tuesday that he would work with this service center “to try to avoid the closure of 50% of kindergartens for 4 years”.