Catch-up after strikes | A plan “right on target”

It was an expected plan and it was greeted with relief: Quebec set aside $300 million to help students who missed many days of school due to strikes. The success of young people is now in the hands of those who know them best, welcomed unions, parents and management.

At the end of the strikes in the public sector, not everyone missed the same number of school days, and not everyone started again on an equal basis. This is why the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, will not go “wall to wall” in his catch-up plan, he immediately declared at a press briefing in Montreal on Tuesday.

This is what was retained and welcomed, although the teaching unions also said they welcomed this plan with “caution” and “some questions”.

“ […] A catch-up plan for recent weeks should not be considered as a catch-up plan for recent years. The needs have always been high to provide services to students,” observed the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ).

“I wanted to applaud,” said Sylvana Côté, professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Montreal, who had called the day before for a “robust” plan for students in difficulty.

“Inequalities between children who are doing well and less well increase when we close schools,” underlines M^me Côté, whose research focused on the subject. The minister’s plan is “spot on,” she adds, since it is at the heart of schools that we know best who needs additional support.

Custom made

The 300 million plan – new money, it was specified – will be broken down into several stages. The next two weeks of class will be used to identify students who will need additional help. Staff members called upon to provide these remedial activities may do so on a voluntary basis.

“The remuneration will follow accordingly,” said Mr. Drainville, who said he is hopeful that the teachers and professional staff will be there.

Parents whose children have been identified for these catch-up measures will be contacted, then, as of January 29, schools will begin providing tutoring to students.

These catch-up hours could take place after classes, at lunchtime or during spring break, said the Minister of Education.

Tutoring is “the only measure that has shown effects of medium to large size,” says Sylvana Côté in this regard, who judges that it is “very promising” to offer it to students during regular school days.

Quebec has calculated that around 500,000 students may need to benefit from additional help. The budget will be paid to school service centers, which will distribute it to schools, but it is already planned that a larger part of the budget will be allocated to schools where students have suffered a month-long strike.

The Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE), whose teachers have been on an indefinite general strike, has also called on its members to “take advantage of the opportunity to identify all the needs of their students, young people and adults, and to do not censor yourself in the context of this exercise based on the amounts available.”

Quebec’s catch-up plan will continue this summer, in another way: 4th grade students^e and 5^e secondary school students who have failed a ministerial exam will be entitled to free summer courses.

End of year exams postponed

Quebec is also reviewing the weighting of ministerial tests. “We’re coming back to weighing the pandemic,” explained Bernard Drainville.

At primary level, the June exams will count for 10% of the final grade, rather than 20%. In secondary school, these exams will count for 20% rather than 50% and they will only cover essential knowledge.

“We want to ensure that students who have endured a month of strike will not be penalized compared to others,” explained Mr. Drainville.

These exams will also be postponed for a few days to allow students to receive as much teaching as possible. The new dates will be announced soon, but it is already understood that the school year will end on the same date as usual.

As for what students will learn by the end of the school year, that does not change: teachers will have to teach the regular program, and not a reduced program, as was the case during the pandemic.

They said

Although this catch-up plan will make it possible to implement one-off measures necessary to help students in difficulty catch up on certain delays, this exercise should be recurring and should be able to be applied next year if needs are felt beyond the current school year.

Mélanie Hubert, president of the Autonomous Education Federation

We must keep in mind, in this catch-up operation, that the staff will also be in accelerated mode and will work harder. The catch-up plan must not represent, once again, an overload of work resting solely on the shoulders of the teaching staff. Rather, it must be a signal that we can, together, find solutions.

Josée Scalabrini, president of the Federation of Education Unions

The extension of the second stage and the postponement of the report card, the return to the weighting used during the pandemic, the maintenance of overall knowledge during the year and the essential knowledge for the secondary level IV and V tests, are all measures which will make it possible to properly support students according to their catch-up needs.

Kathleen Legault, president of the Montreal Association of School Directors

I encourage parents to work together with the school to ensure that students receive the support they need. We all have a role to play in student success, whether by encouraging our children to persevere or actively participating in communications with school staff.

Mélanie Laviolette, president of the Federation of Parents’ Committees of Quebec

In a fragile system where a lack of resources is common, it seems reasonable and realistic to us to give school teams, who are closer to their students, the opportunity to target catch-up efforts towards those who are already vulnerable or who would develop difficulties.

Sylvain Martel, spokesperson for the Regroupement des committees de parents nationaux du Québec