(Quebec) Bernard Drainville says he is “very satisfied” with the additional educational services that are put in place by schools as part of his catch-up plan, in response to the school days missed during the education strike. In tutoring, he said as an example, the number of students who will receive services will have doubled compared to the last school year.
In a press scrum in Parliament on Tuesday, the Minister of Education gave an initial assessment of the interventions that will be carried out over the coming months in order to educationally support the students who suffered the most from the closure of classes in November. and last December. The government announced in January an amount of 300 million to support the catch-up plan.
In the public preschool, primary, secondary, general adult education and vocational training network, “more than 500,000 interventions will be made and will help students,” explains the Minister of Education. .
According to data transmitted by school service centers and school boards to the Ministry of Education:
- 145,540 students will receive tutoring services in 2,501 schools, by 23,302 stakeholders;
- 215,013 students will receive educational support services in 2010 schools, by 18,805 workers;
- 76,016 students with special needs will receive specialized educational activities in 1,639 schools, by 9,215 stakeholders;
- 24,514 immigrant or allophone students will receive support services for learning French in 1,036 schools, by 3,306 stakeholders;
- 11,863 students will participate in catch-up activities offered in 473 schools during spring break, by 2,351 stakeholders;
- 28,578 students will participate in other measures in 682 schools, by 4,258 stakeholders.
“So far, so good. We are honestly very satisfied with the response. The plan is working. […] We still have a very good response. The reactions we have are not unanimously positive, but overwhelmingly positive,” said Mr. Drainville.
Figures to qualify
The Minister of Education, however, qualified these figures, specifying that the same student could be counted for both tutoring and educational support, for example. For this reason, it is not possible to add the number of students per category to make a total.
In terms of tutoring, the 145,540 students who will receive services this year are in addition to those who already had them before the education strike. For the 2022-2023 school year, there were nearly 120,000. The number of students tutored will therefore have doubled, says Minister Drainville’s office.
Furthermore, when asked if all students who have educational needs related to the delays accumulated during the strike will receive services, Mr. Drainville affirmed that it is up to teachers and schools to answer this question. For his part, he said, the financial means to meet demand are on the table.
The minister then urged parents who are worried about their child, if they do not receive special help, to contact their teacher or school to obtain it.
Parent representatives also say that the “echoes are good”.
“The bad comments come mainly from the incomprehension that the measures are targeted,” said Sylvain Martel, spokesperson for the Regroupement des committees de parents nationaux du Québec (RCPAQ).
This is a plan which must extend until the end of the year, he recalls, also inviting parents to contact their child’s school if necessary.
At the Federation of Parents’ Committees of Quebec, we indicate that so far we have not noted any major dissatisfaction with this catch-up plan.
With Marie-Eve Morasse, The Press