Some 65% of special educators, daycare educators and other school support staff have not been approached to participate in the catch-up plan in their school.
“How do you want us to feel?” says Éric Pronovost, president of the Federation of School Support Personnel (FPSS-CSQ).
As part of an internal survey carried out last week, 65% of respondents said they had not been consulted by their school administration on their interest in participating in the academic catch-up plan.
Of this number, 4 out of 10 people would have been ready to participate, but cannot do so because it was not offered to them.
Everything therefore suggests that schools could offer even more remedial training than they currently plan, explains Mr. Pronovost.
At the beginning of January, the Minister of Education Bernard Drainville announced a $300 million catch-up plan which should allow around 500,000 students to benefit from tutoring or specialized help to catch up on delays accumulated during the teachers’ strike. .
Discordance
On Tuesday, a first assessment was made public: 91% of Quebec schools will offer at least one form of additional assistance.
However, it is not possible to calculate exactly the number of students who will be entitled to this additional assistance.
“The minister is very proud of his plan, we hear that it is going number one. But this is not the echo we receive from the field,” points out Mr. Pronovost.
In recent days, parents have also indicated to the Newspaper be disappointed by the catch-up offer or by the fact that their child would not be entitled to it, particularly because their child is in a specialized class.
Is it just because schools lack volunteer staff? The FPSS-CSQ survey suggests not.
“Often, these are choices made by the school administration […] We give less [de rattrapage] to William because he is less worse than Paul,” he caricatures.
Help with homework
The approximately 40,000 members of school support staff that it represents include, for example, special education technicians, daycare educators, social work technicians and attendants for disabled students.
They cannot teach as such, but in several school service centers, educators already normally offer homework help in daycare, recalls Mr. Pronovost.
Furthermore, we could offer more psychosocial or emotional support to students who have developed anxiety or regressed in their social skills, which would fit perfectly with the “specialized help” provided for in the catch-up plan announced by the minister.
SCHOOL SUPPORT STAFF SHUNNED
35%
Were consulted
65%
Were not consulted
4 out of 10
Of the 65% not consulted, proportion who would have wanted to participate in the catch-up, but were not approached
What do those who participate do?
- Homework help: 57%
- Individualized help: 41%
- Specialized educational activities for students with special needs: 33%
- Support during spring break: 25%
- Support for learning French for immigrants: 18%
- Support during the summer: 18%
Methodology of the FPSS-CSQ survey: Conducted on 1er as of February 6, 2024 from 930 respondents, which represents a margin of error of 3% for a confidence level of 95%.