Despite the millions of dollars invested, the catch-up plan unveiled by Quebec after the strike is failing. In some schools, no teachers volunteered to participate.
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At the beginning of January, the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, announced a catch-up plan with a budget of $300 million to allow students to catch up on academic delay caused by the strike, some having missed up to five weeks of school before the holidays.
This plan is essentially based on the voluntary participation of teachers, who are offered to be paid overtime to participate in recovery activities, particularly outside of class hours.
- Listen to the interview with Bernard Drainville, Minister of Education on Yasmine Abdelfadel’s show via QUB :
No volunteers
However, in certain schools, no teacher raised their hand to participate, according to an internal survey carried out by the Fédération québécoise des directions d’establishment d’enseignement (FQDE), to which around 140 members responded.
Even if this probe is far from being scientific, its president, Nicolas Prévost, indicates that it corresponds to the echoes heard in the field, where the situation varies considerably from one school to another.
In some establishments, there are more volunteer teachers than necessary, but in several others, only a very small number of teachers – or sometimes even none – have responded to the call.
“Generally, it’s more negative than positive,” says Mr. Prévost. It is certain that there are students, unfortunately, who will not have a remedial service, at least not in the short term,” he says.
It is not impossible that teaching students will be able to get their hands dirty from the end of April, once their university session is over, but the priority will above all be to fill vacant positions, adds the president of the FQDE .
The catch-up plan also provides additional funds to offer specialized services to students in difficulty, but recruiting professionals also remains quite a challenge.
Even if the money is there, “it’s extremely difficult to find people to put the services in place,” says Nicolas Prévost.
During the school day
Catch-up will also be done mainly during the school day, during class hours or at lunchtime, since very few schools will organize recovery activities at the end of the day, during the weekend or during the week. release, according to the survey carried out by the FQDE.
On the side of the Montreal Association of School Directors, it is also indicated that the situation is “variable geometry” since there is a lack of volunteer teachers in certain areas. They must then turn to other members of staff.
“Are we really going to find resources for all the students (who need them)? It’s difficult to say at the moment,” says its president, Kathleen Legault.
Mixed reception
In the school network, the catch-up plan has been rather well received, especially because of its great flexibility, but reactions are more mixed among the ranks of teachers.
Teachers want to give their students an extra helping hand and the prospect of earning more money, after weeks of strike without pay, should not be neglected, according to comments collected by The newspaper with teachers who did not wish to speak publicly on this subject.
But others consider that participating in this additional effort would be totally inconsistent with the demands expressed during the strike, while the teachers’ workload was denounced numerous times on the picket lines.
In some schools, the lack of premises is also problematic, since classes are used by the daycare service outside of class hours, it is indicated.
For its part, the Autonomous Education Federation preferred not to comment on the situation, preferring to wait to have a more complete picture before making a decision.
In the office of the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, they indicate that they do not want to draw “hasty conclusions”. A more complete picture is expected shortly from all school service centers on this subject. “We reiterate our call to teachers, but also to school management, to turn to retired teachers and teaching students if necessary,” indicates its press officer, Florence Plourde.
The catch-up plan in brief
Two key measures of the catch-up plan will be difficult to implement in certain schools, due to a lack of teachers and staff willing to participate, according to school management:
- Tutoring during class hours
- Specialized help for students in difficulty
The plan also provides:
- Two-week postponement of the 2 bulletine stage
- Lighter ministerial examinations (reduced weighting and content)
- More resources for community organizations
- Free summer courses
Total: $300 million