Minister of Education, in April 1963, 60 years ago this month, the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Education submitted its first report to Jean Lesage, then Premier of Quebec.
A true revolutionary gesture at the time, the Parent report – named after the chairman of the commission – proposed the creation of a Ministry of Education in order, among other things, to allow the Quebec State to take charge of all schools of Quebec, and above all, to put an end to the stranglehold of the Catholic Church on education.
The implementation of the recommendations of the Parent report truly brought Quebec into modernity, beginning a cycle that would democratize education and allow thousands of young people to have free access to quality education, of Quebec territory. I would also remind you that it was in the wake of these reports (there were five) that the comprehensive schools, CEGEPs and Universities of Quebec were created. A coherent and integrated education system. Quebec style.
Sixty years later, what about the situation of education in Quebec? It has to be said that over the past few years bad news has been piling up and that problems resurface almost every week.
Dilapidated schools, school dropouts, funding problems, lack of staff, questioning of future teacher training programs, poor quality of student French, three-speed school or school segregation are just a few examples of the pitfalls regularly identified.
During this time, the Superior Council of Education multiplies the studies. Researchers are looking into these many difficulties. Thousands of people toil daily in and out of class to ensure the best possible academic progress for our children. But the picture continues to be alarming. What to do then?
A new parent committee?
Mr. Minister, over the past few months, many voices have been raised, asking the government to put in place a real collective reflection on education. A Parent 2.0 committee? Why not ? Various organizations have launched this appeal. Intellectuals such as Claude Lessard, Céline St-Pierre, Georges Leroux and even Guy Rocher, a member of the Parent commission in the 1960s, have in turn taken a stand in favor of such collective reflection. Columnists or journalists such as Normand Baillargeon and Marie-Andrée Chouinard from the newspaper The duty advocate for this idea. Why not respond positively to this call?
In the meantime, faced with the stubbornness of your government, citizen organizations have decided to unite their voices in order to launch this collective reflection on education in Quebec.
For a few weeks already, and for a few more months, the citizens’ forums “Let’s talk about education” will be held in various cities of Quebec in order to discuss topics as varied as “the mission of the school of today and tomorrow , the social and cultural inclusion of all school populations or the democratization of the Quebec school system in all its components”.
School staff, civic organizations, students, labor and community organizations, young people, parents, grandparents, and those who care about education are invited.1 Possible solutions emerge and energies unfold during these meetings. Will you be able to lend an ear, Minister?
Beyond a plan
A former trade unionist comrade often used an image to show his discouragement about the possibility of real changes in education in Quebec. He repeated to me regularly that, for too many years at the Ministry of Education, change is: “A hole, a ch’ville. A hole, a city. A hole, a ch’ville “. A strong image, but unfortunately so close to reality.
Mr. Minister, in a former life not so far away, where we spent quite a lot of time with each other, you dreamed big for Quebec. Very big even. Today, you could make a difference by setting up a real collective reflection that goes beyond yet another plan concocted at the ministry or in government offices.
You want to bring education into the 21ste century ? Go ahead, think big, Minister.