This text is part of the special Back to School notebook
Use of screens and cell phones, bullying, dilapidated schools, lack of teachers, academic catch-up… The challenges that await students at the start of the school year are numerous, according to several parent organizations whose mission is to ensure the success of their children.
The catch-up plan announced in January by Education Minister Bernard Drainville has borne fruit, says Patricia Clermont, spokesperson for the Je protégée mon école publique movement. The $300-million initiative was set up to make up for missed school days during the Common Front strike last fall. It included, among other things, free summer courses for students in Secondary 4 and 5 who had failed one or more subjects essential to obtaining their diploma.
Like many other players in the education sector, Mme Clermont hopes that Quebec will make this solution sustainable. “The minister said no,” she laments. “But everyone in the network knows that the strike did not create the problem, that it rather accentuated needs that had been present since the pandemic,” she points out.
Maintaining such a measure would also help to address certain social inequalities in the school environment, believes Sylvain Martel, spokesperson and strategic advisor for the Regroupement des comités de parents autonomes du Québec (RCPAQ). “It makes no sense that a child can get help during the year, but that their success is linked to their parents’ ability to pay for a catch-up course or not. That doesn’t fit into the logic of universal access to education,” he says.
A return to school subject to the whims of Mother Nature
Last June, secondary school students took their ministerial exams in sweltering heat due to a lack of air conditioning. With climate change and rising temperatures, the start of the school year could also be marked by a heatwave.
Mme Clermont wants school buildings to be better adapted to global warming. She particularly deplores Quebec’s announcement in July that it would cut more than $400 million from building maintenance funding.
Heat can have an impact on students’ ability to pay attention in class and on teachers’ ability to do their job well, believes the spokesperson for the movement Je protégée mon école publique. “In the school calendar, we have ‘storm’ days that are planned. Some people wonder if we should add ‘heatwave’ days.”
In addition, despite the addition of air conditioners or fans in classrooms, some establishments are so dilapidated that the electrical system cannot support such an overload. “Even before the pandemic, we heard teachers say: ‘I can turn on my fan, but if my colleague does the same, it will blow and everyone will start to get hot,’” says Mme Clermont.
The use of phones and screens in class is also a major concern for many parents, believes Mélanie Laviolette, president of the Fédération des comités de parents du Québec (FCPQ). “We always want to remove as many distractions as possible from our children and ensure that they are in the best possible frame of mind for learning,” she says.
Last October, Minister Drainville banned the use of cell phones in classrooms in primary and secondary schools, as well as in vocational training centres in Quebec. He is now considering banning them everywhere in educational institutions, including during recess and breaks.
For the RCPAQ, the recreational use of television screens must also be examined. “We have nothing against educational use. But it is mainly the fact of seeing young people sitting in front of a film in daycare services. That is very common in schools in Quebec. And it is not necessarily something that parents want,” says Mr. Martel. The lack of information on screen time at school also makes it more complicated for parents to limit their children’s access to digital devices once they are at home.
For his part, Mr. Martel believes that school renovations are “a decade-long project.” He also believes that Minister Drainville is on the wrong track by reducing the budget for building maintenance by $400 million. “After that, this government won’t be able to come and tell us that it is making efforts to improve the school system’s real estate portfolio, because, no, that’s not true,” he says.
No to violence
Starting in September, Quebec students will have to take a course on violence and mental health. As for schools, they will now be required to document all cases of violence and bullying without exception. “For a student who is scared to death of going to school because they are in a violent environment, it is extremely difficult to be able to stay focused or able to learn,” emphasizes Mme Laviolette.
The search for effective and sustainable solutions will also be at the heart of the FCPQ’s priorities. “We must ensure that our students are safe and able to flourish in their school environment,” says the organization’s president.
She also believes that parental involvement allows students to do better at school. “We want to encourage parents to work as a team in collaboration with school teams to ensure that we provide the best possible support for our children,” she says.
Mr. Martel also believes that education needs to be given a new lease of life. “The importance of knowledge, judgment, everything we learn at school needs to be enhanced and promoted, and not just in schools, but everywhere. In general, as a society, we have somewhat abandoned the value of knowledge. And it’s starting to show.”
This content was produced by the Special Publications Team of Dutyrelevant to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part in it.