The Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, will present his plan to reform the education network on Thursday. On the menu: the creation of a National Institute of Excellence in Education, a new method of appointing directors general of school service centers (CSS) and a faster path to the teaching profession.
In recent weeks, the Minister has sown several clues about his desire to have a better portrait of the network he leads, such as his annoyance about the lack of accountability of the directors general (dg) of CSS.
With his bill, the broad outlines of which were first revealed in The Press on Wednesday, he wants to ensure that the appointments of CEOs are now the responsibility of the minister, and no longer of the boards of directors of the CSS.
No more question for CEOs to “hide from the media” when an embarrassing situation comes to light. Quebec wants “committed” and “accountable” administrators, illustrated a source at the Duty. Above all, the government wants another lever than that of guardianship; he wants to be able to dismiss the CEOs whose work he considers unsatisfactory, as he did in the health network.
Accounts to be rendered
On Tuesday, the Minister of Education stated clearly: “I would like the directors of school service centers to assume this role […] to speak. Are they doing enough? The answer is no,” he said when considering his ministry’s credits. ” I would like [que les d.g.] account for their decisions. »
After half a year in office, Mr. Drainville is ready to “get the ball rolling”. In Quebec, some structures in its network are considered ineffective. The government does not rule out the possibility of replacing them.
As the network also bears the brunt of the labor shortage, Quebec is seeking to perpetuate the model of the 30-credit specialized graduate degree (DESS) developed by TÉLUQ University. The program provides a fast track for preschool and elementary school teachers who are already in the classroom and hold a bachelor’s degree, but who are “not legally qualified” for the profession.
According to our information, there is no question of tightening the criteria for admission to the bachelor’s degree in education.
More data…
Tired of the long road that the ministry must take to be informed of the realities on the ground, Minister Drainville also wants “better access to data”. He therefore wants to draw inspiration from his colleague in Health, Christian Dubé, to have “access to precise information, as much as possible in real time” on the state of the network, as he summed up on Tuesday.
The title of his bill announces the creation of a National Institute of Excellence in Education. Quebec sees it as a tool to enhance practices and ensure the quality of teacher training. It remains to be seen how this institute will cohabit with the Higher Council for Education, which has the mandate to advise the minister “on any question relating to education”.
In 2017, a working group on the creation of such an institute was set up following a request from the Minister of Education, Sébastien Proulx. In January 2018, this group notably recommended that an institute be created to report on scientific knowledge on educational success and ensure its dissemination to “the school network, decision-makers and the public”.
The task force also wanted the institute to be able to “contribute […] training and support for stakeholders with regard to best educational practices, and evaluating the effects”. What compensate, in part, the absence of a professional order of teachers, argued sources Wednesday.
…and reliable data
The psychologist and specialist in academic success Égide Royer has wanted the creation of a National Institute of Excellence in Education for years. “Our claim is that the arrival of an institute that will disseminate best practices should contribute to improving educational success,” he explained to the Duty.
In his opinion, the reluctance expressed by education unions in recent years is “very surprising”. ” [Les syndicats disaient] that it was going to affect the professional autonomy of teachers, as if sharing the best practices identified by research would harm the professional autonomy of doctors or psychologists,” he illustrated. For Mr. Royer, the creation of an institute will above all provide access to reliable data, for the benefit of students in particular.
“We have approximately one million students in Quebec. There are 257,000 in difficulty,” he recalled. In this file, for example, it seems relevant to him to “connect this increase with the fact that we do not always apply best practices or relevant research data in relation to young people in difficulty”.
In 2017, union representatives criticized the institute project. “It is the exercise of professional judgment that makes it possible to adapt practice appropriately and effectively. The institute project could make us slide towards the prescription of practices”, they had written in an open letter to the Duty.