The Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, must come and explain to the parliamentary committee what will be done to improve the mastery of French by students and staff in college educational establishments, estimates the official opposition.
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Liberal MP Madwa-Nika Cadet on Monday asked for a parliamentary commission to examine the Report of the committee of experts on French proficiency in college, made public on March 10.
“By its own admission, the government says it prioritizes French. To be in perfect harmony with himself, he therefore has no other choice than to accept our request for an initiative mandate, ”launched Ms. Cadet in an interview.
The report in question mentions gigantic challenges regarding the mastery of French in Cégep. The authors state that the poor quality of the written language prevents a considerable proportion of students from obtaining a diploma of college studies.
The situation is all the more worrying as educational establishments are forced to hire teachers who do not have an adequate level of command of the language of Molière, due to the shortage of manpower.
It was the government itself that commissioned a study on the issue in the fall of 2021, and the report was submitted to it a few months later, in January 2022. However, it took more than a year to that it be made public.
The Liberals want to know what the government has done over the past 13 months to improve the state of affairs. “The report expressly mentions that there is an urgent need to act, because the recommendations made therein, if they give rise to concrete actions, require a lot of time before giving results”, underlined Madwa-Nika Cadet.
In addition to Pascale Déry, the official opposition wants to hear the Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, as well as the authors of the report, the Federation of CEGEPs, teachers and students.
digital writing
In their report, the experts suggest that “digital writing becomes common practice in college” in all disciplines. They also propose to standardize the use of digital tools for correcting and revising texts, and possibly allowing their use when carrying out French tests.
“A priori, the students must be able to master the language, in order to then be able to use the corrective software,” commented the Liberal MP, who judges that a parliamentary commission would be an opportunity for experts to explain why. they make that recommendation.
Grammar
As the difficulties of students in French are mainly due to an insufficient mastery of grammar, the report recommends extending the teaching to Cégep, which had surprised the teachers.
“It’s as if we were telling math teachers to teach multiplication tables at CEGEP,” reacted the president of the National Federation of Teachers of Quebec, Caroline Quesnel. According to her, higher education must be able to rely on a “certain level of basic knowledge”, normally acquired in primary and secondary education.
Madwa-Nika Cadet easily admits that there is “something aberrant” in the fact that students are not able to master the “basic concepts of grammar” once they reach college, but she rightly remarks that some of the report’s recommendations merit consideration.
“The idea of a make-up course for those who do not obtain more than 75% in the French test in secondary 5 is extremely interesting. This is a measure that targets students in difficulty, rather than targeting the general high school average, ”she explained.
List of speakers that the Liberals want to hear in parliamentary committee
- The Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry
- The Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge
- Members of the committee of experts on French proficiency at college
- Federation of CEGEPs
- The Quebec College Student Federation (FECQ)
- The National Federation of Teachers of Quebec (FNEEQ-CSN)
Academic success compromised
- Students who obtained less than 75% in the secondary 5 French test represent 40% of new admissions to college since 2010.
- About 50% of these students will not graduate from college.
- Those who get a better grade in high school have a CEGEP graduation rate hovering around 84%