The Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, announced flexibility on Thursday to train teachers more quickly, in addition to allowing daycare educators to come and lend a hand in the classroom.
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Both measures are part of the new minister’s seven-point “game plan” to tackle understaffing in schools and improve pass rates. Many of the components will be detailed over the coming weeks and months.
Two initiatives deserve particular attention. Quebec intends to create a fast track to allow holders of a relevant baccalaureate to obtain a teaching certificate.
The minister mentioned a 30-credit certificate, rather than a qualifying master’s degree of 60 credits as is currently the case.
“I consulted several education specialists and they told me: it is possible. In fact, there are many who will tell you: it worked well during the time of the 30-credit pedagogy certificate, “commented Bernard Drainville during a press briefing on the sidelines of the CAQ caucus, in a hotel in Laval.
He argues that a baccalaureate and a patent require four years of university, the same time as a university education course.
Bernard Drainville thus hopes to encourage a good part of the 4,000 people who currently teach thanks to commitment tolerance to obtain their certificate in good and due form.
From daycare to class
To help teachers faced with increasingly heavy cases, the minister proposes to bring educators into the classrooms. They are currently responsible for supervising children in schoolyards and at lunchtime.
Mr. Drainville points out that the teacher is alone when a student becomes disorganized, experiences anxiety or needs to go to the bathroom. “The class stops during this time,” he says.
The childcare worker can then either take charge of the child in difficulty or supervise the class while the teacher takes care of this heavier case, argues the minister.
However, the school reform, which moved children in difficulty to regular classes, had to be accompanied by professionals to come to the aid of teachers: in particular remedial teachers, speech therapists, technicians in special education.
Other measures
In his list of priorities, the Minister also indicated his intention to revalorize French and to continue the renovation and construction of schools.
“French is a government priority and that is why the Department will work to find possible solutions to curb the decline of written French. It is imperative to stop the negative effects of the pandemic,” he said in a statement.
To follow its objective of graduating 30,000 students and combating school dropouts, the government also plans to invest in vocational training to make it more attractive, by improving the program offer and enhancing the vocational training diploma.
It also plans to extend specific projects to as many public secondary schools as possible to increase students’ sense of belonging and motivation.
Incidentally, the Minister indicated that he intends to modernize the school network in order to increase communication and the sharing of reliable data “so that the best possible decisions are made”.
– With QMI Agency