In some schools, places in 4-year-old kindergarten are granted following a draw and not according to the needs of the children, a real “lottery” denounced by parents and experts.
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Annabelle Boivin has a four-year-old boy who has never attended daycare. She has applied for enrollment in 4-year-old kindergarten for next year, at the same school as her older sister.
She has attached a referral from her family doctor who recommends going to school to promote her social and emotional development.
However, her boy was not selected in the draw. At the Mille-Îles school service center in the Laurentians, children are chosen by freelance when demand exceeds the number of places available in 4-year-old kindergarten.
Children from underprivileged backgrounds are given priority, as is the case for the son of Mrs.me Boivin, but no other criteria are taken into account.
“How come the needs of children are not taken into account? When we refer to the mission of the 4-year-old kindergarten, it seems to me that we are getting lost”, drops this mother who has a hard time explaining this “lottery”.
Over the past few years, the Legault government has repeatedly justified the deployment of 4-year-old kindergarten by asserting that there was an “urgency” to reach children who do not have access to childcare.
After challenging this decision, Mr.me Boivin, however, recently learned that his boy will finally have a place in kindergarten for 4 years next year, following a withdrawal.
However, the rules have not changed, which this mother of three-year-old twins deplores, who fears to relive the same scenario next year, if chance does not do things well.
At the Mille-Îles school service centre, spokesperson Mélanie Poirier contented herself with indicating that the admissions policy “has been the subject of consultation with all the governing boards as well as with of the parents’ committee.
The number of groups is limited by the lack of premises while the clientele is growing, she adds.
Not an isolated case
However, this is not an isolated case since other school service centres, such as Trois-Lacs, also operate by drawing lots among the students who live in the territory served by the school.
Marie-Claude Bastide has a young boy who will not be able to go to the same school as his three siblings next year, even if 4-year-old kindergarten is offered there, since siblings are not prioritized in the draw .
However, several other service centers have different admission policies for 4-year-old kindergarten.
In many schools, children with a referral from a professional are given priority, as are those who have not attended daycare. In some places, siblings are also taken into account.
A draw is then made among the other children, if places are still available, can we read on the website of several school service centers.
Draw: a lazy and unfair solution, according to an expert
Granting places in kindergarten 4 years according to a draw without taking into account the needs of the children is a solution “of ease and laziness”, which is “truly unfair”, according to an expert.
Jean Bernatchez is a professor of educational administration at the Université du Québec à Rimouski. Draws based solely on where the child lives have no place, he argues.
“It’s not fair to go haphazardly. There are young people who have much greater needs, who do not have access to educational services in a daycare setting and it is to meet their needs that 4-year-old kindergartens were created, ”recalls- he.
However, it is however “not very complicated” to carry out an assessment of the needs of children, since it is a process which does not require great resources, he adds. Moreover, several service centers have chosen to retain several other priority criteria.
Christa Japel, a professor at UQAM specializing in child development, is also concerned about this type of practice. “We don’t prioritize children who need socialization and that worries me a lot,” she said.
Proceeding by drawing lots can be “equal” without necessarily being “equitable”, affirms for her part Monique Brodeur, who was a member of the advisory committee on the implementation of full-time 4-year-old kindergartens.
According to the rules of the Ministry of Education, a school service center “may set additional registration criteria when the number of registration requests exceeds its supply”, can we read on the web.
In several schools, there is a strong demand for 4-year-old kindergarten. A school in the Quebec region, for example, received three times more requests than places available, it was reported to the Log.
The Legault government’s objective is to create 2,600 4-year-old kindergarten classes by 2025-2026. At the start of the school year, approximately 1,600 classes should be offered across the province.