(Quebec) With the labor conflict continuing between the Legault government and public school teachers, stakeholders who fight against school dropouts – and who say they are in solidarity with the demands of teachers on the picket lines – are concerned about repercussions of such a long strike for the most vulnerable students.
Marc-Étienne Kettenis, 15, is a secondary 4 student at the Versant school in Gatineau. Passionate about communications, he speaks with contagious energy about his dream of continuing his studies at the Cégep du Vieux Montréal with a concentration in cinema. But to be accepted into a quota program, he must first obtain good results in his Ministry exams. A major challenge for this young person with an attention disorder and who already fears the magnitude of the task to pass his final test in mathematics.
“With the strike, we haven’t been to school for a while. I tried to bring a workbook home, but my dad may be good at it, but he’s not a math teacher either. In my opinion, [cette pause d’école] puts me behind others [et je me questionne] if I’m going to come out a loser,” he said.
At his side, Benjamin Dumont, director of the La Saga youth center and father of two children aged 11 and 14, adds that the labor conflict which paralyzes public schools is one more tile which falls on young people of the Outaouais region.
“There was COVID, it was long, then last summer, we had the cloud of smoke coming from Abitibi. Several end-of-year activities have been canceled. And then, boom, it falls with the strike,” he said, specifying that he nevertheless supports the teachers’ fight.
The teenagers are left to their own devices. [Et comme] each time, it is the community that overcomes the government’s problems. In Quebec, we don’t realize all the work we do while being underfunded. If we decided to close, the government would be in trouble.
Benjamin Dumont, director of the La Saga youth center
Anxious young people
Maud Tremblay, coordinator-worker at the Center Solidarité Jeunesse, an organization that fights against dropping out of school in Quebec, notes in turn that young people are worried about the repercussions of this school break which lasts this fall.
“The young people we meet are worried about returning [en classe]. Some wonder if they will have to retake everything they missed. We tell them that it will be done in a benevolent manner. We are here to reassure them,” she explains.
In schools, continues Mme Tremblay, young people who are experiencing difficulties see a difference between qualified teachers and those who joined the network without a certificate, in the context where school service centers are no longer able to fill all the positions. She wants the negotiations to end by increasing the attractiveness of the profession.
The general director of the Regroupement des organizations nationaux québécois de combat au dropout, Mélanie Marsolais, emphasizes for her part that “the risk of dropping out is not so much associated [à la grève]but rather to the harmful consequences of the lack of resources in the network for years.
“It is extremely important to also realize that the conflict will increase inequalities, because young people who are not in a public school continue [à ce jour] their schooling. We are here to ensure that public schools are strengthened,” she said.
How to plan what happens next?
Isabelle Plante, professor at the faculty of educational sciences at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) and holder of the Canada Research Chair on gender differences in schools, considers that it is more than time for teachers’ practice conditions to improve and for them to obtain support in the classroom. However, the length of the conflict poses risks for vulnerable students.
“I believe there is reason to be concerned about the students most at risk, because they are typically the ones who suffer the costs associated with school interruptions. For example, “summer slide”, which refers to the loss of skills during the summer, is a much more prevalent and marked phenomenon among young people who are weaker at school,” she explains.
Furthermore, dropping out is often preceded by life events that precipitate the decision to drop out, and a prolonged absence could, in this sense, act as a trigger for dropping out.
Isabelle Plante, professor at the Faculty of Educational Sciences at UQAM
In the medium term, in anticipation of next summer, Mme Plante considers that it will be necessary to offer additional services to children with learning disabilities to restore equity between these vulnerable students, who will have been particularly affected by the strike, and those who find it easier at school.
In Gatineau, young Marc-Étienne Kettenis is asking for just that, help, to catch up on more difficult subjects.
“I already have an intervention plan. In an ideal world, I have the right to additional resources. But [d’y avoir accès]it’s always more difficult, because we have a lot of needs in the school and not the necessary staff for the number of people there are,” he laments.
Despite everything, there is no question of him abandoning his dream. “Montreal is the place for cinema, it’s the place for TV, it’s the Quartier des spectacles. All the major TV stations are there. That’s why I would like to go study there. To be an actor, or to be behind the scenes,” he dreams.