As the walkout in the public sector approaches, parents gathered Thursday morning around a dozen public schools in Quebec to show their support for the demands of education workers. A citizen initiative in which Québec solidaire joined forces.
“The quality of education is the future of our children,” thundered a woman into a loudspeaker in front of the Saint-Fidèle primary school, in Vieux-Limoilou, Thursday morning.
At the height of the event, including the children and the supportive deputies present, there were nearly a hundred surrounding the school and its playground. Hand in hand, they wanted to create a “human chain” to show their support.
Twelve schools in Quebec were part of the movement, in the Limoilou, Maizerets, Saint-Sauveur, Vanier and Montcalm districts. Schools from Montreal and Bas-Saint-Laurent also participated.
A group of five women from Quebec are behind this initiative. “Having fewer teachers, fewer teachers, has an impact on our children, it sure stresses us out,” explained Claire Murati, mother of two young people attending Saint-Fidèle school. “We really want to show our support.”
Mme Murati says that last year, her son had 12 consecutive substitutes in fifth grade after his teacher left on medical leave. ” It is enormous. This is not good for the stability of education. »
Strong solidarity presence
Several elected officials from Québec solidaire took part in Thursday’s demonstration, including the party’s co-spokesperson, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. “We are always on the side of parents, teachers, all employees of the public network,” he said.
QS believes that the working conditions of school staff must be improved in order to combat the labor shortage. “It goes through salaries, but it also goes through the composition of the class,” added the member for Mercier and spokesperson for the party in education, Ruba Ghazal. She said it’s about ensuring that teachers “come and teach”, but also that they “don’t leave”, she clarified.
The demonstration comes as the Common Front prepares to walk out on November 6. Union representatives were also present in front of Saint-Fidèle school Thursday morning.