Spring break will begin Monday for the majority of students in Quebec. In Montreal and Laval, more than a hundred schools will remain open exceptionally to offer tutoring to thousands of young people needing help to catch up on delays caused by the teachers’ strike. Community organizations are also pushing forward by organizing educational day camps. In the private sector, some tutoring companies are noticing an increase in demand.
At the Montreal School Services Center (CSSDM), 19 elementary schools and 9 secondary schools — out of approximately 160 — will offer tutoring days during spring break. More than 950 students will benefit, according to the CSSDM. The Pointe-de-l’Île School Service Center indicates that catch-up activities will take place in “at least” 17 primary schools and 7 secondary schools – out of around fifty establishments.
At the Marguerite-Bourgeoys School Service Center, 21 out of 75 primary schools will open their doors as well as 13 out of 15 secondary schools. Two specialized schools will do the same. According to the Center, 3,331 students have registered for remedial activities so far. In the Laval region, 1,048 students will benefit from face-to-face or virtual tutoring services in 21 elementary schools and 7 secondary schools, according to the School Service Center.
Tutoring will vary by school. In the mainland, many have targeted reception class students. “They will do activities to allow students to interact in French,” says Stéphane Richard, vice-president of the Montreal Association of School Directors. For example, the secondary school he runs will organize a visit to the Science Center and an outing to Mount Royal. “We are trying to kill two birds with one stone: achieve our academic goals, but in a more fun way, to allow students to have a certain form of respite,” he explains.
The Guillaume-Couture elementary school, located in the east of Montreal, for its part, requested help from the St-Fabien Recreation Service to set up a spring break camp. The community organization already intended to launch one for families in its sector, Mercier-Ouest. “But the educational vocation was not planned,” specifies its general director, Julie Hornez.
A teacher, two teaching students and a daycare educator planned the week of activities. On the program: trip to the library, “word” treasure hunt for apprentice detectives; art rally in the Montreal metro, etc. The free camp, which will be held at Louis-Riel secondary school, will welcome young people from four elementary schools. It is notably financed by the Montreal Success Network, which received $3.2 million from Quebec as part of the catch-up measures.
According to Julie Hornez, recruitment was not so easy. For the moment, 110 students are registered for one of the activity days. “We expected that parents whose children were nominated by teachers directly would accept straight away, but that was not the case,” she says. Some families had already planned their spring break activities. Many of the children in the reception classes, however, raised their hands. “These are young people who spoke throughout the strike in Spanish or another original language at home and there, we feel that there has been a decline [dans leur apprentissage du français] “, says Julie Hornez.
In Montreal, students were on forced leave during the 22-day indefinite general strike of the Autonomous Education Federation. They returned to class in January, after two weeks of vacation during the holiday season.
Popular
The day camp of the Lasallian Center, a community organization in Saint-Michel, is popular this year, particularly because of the teachers’ strike. “We had to stop registrations for 50 young people,” says Mourad Bentouati, project management advisor. There was high demand. We could have gone up to a hundred. »
The camp, which is part of Quebec’s catch-up plan, will offer activities focused on science, technology, engineering, the arts, mathematics and sports. A novelty. “It’s really going to be [réalisation] projects, says Mr. Bentouati. For example: we are going to build a weather station or create a mini concert with robots. »
We had to stop registrations for 50 young people
Worried about the effects of the strike, parents are also calling on private companies to help their children catch up at school. Cindy Ouellet, who founded La Méliora, will welcome eight children with learning disabilities to her “camp”, which will be held for three mornings in the Quebec City region. This is the first edition. “It’s an hour of games, fun workshops related to reading, writing or mathematics,” explains the primary school teacher. Afterwards, we do a science, arts or culinary activity. »
Tutorax, for its part, offers individual or small group tutoring during the spring break. “We are seeing a 10% increase in demand compared to the same period last year,” says its co-founder Audrey Cloutier.
Succès scolaire, for its part, claims to receive new requests every week, but anticipates a “marked increase” after the delivery of the second report card, towards the end of March. Quebec has postponed the date of transmission of grades by two weeks in order to “maximize” teaching time and “promote” catch-up.