The Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, temporarily recreated a committee of experts that his education reform… abolished.
Mr. Drainville named the 1er December the new members of the Committee for the Accreditation of Teacher Training Programs (CAPFE), whose Bill 23 provides for the dismantling.
When the bill was tabled in the spring, the members of the CAPFE resigned en bloc, since they considered themselves attacked by the reform. The Drainville cabinet then said it “took note” of this decision.
However, a few months later, the minister found that he needed a CAPFE – even temporary – to launch his accelerated path to the teaching profession. “The reconstitution of the CAPFE will allow the resumption of their work and possibly approval of these programs,” explained Mr. Drainville’s press secretary, Florence Plourde, at Duty.
Clearly, Minister Drainville wants new rapid training courses, such as the specialized higher studies diploma (DESS) in preschool education and primary education from TELUQ University, to be approved, illustrated Ms. Plourde. With the establishment of a CAPFE, these “fast tracks” could ultimately lead to obtaining a teaching certificate, she clarified.
The president of the new CAPFE, Caroline Brassard, is a professor at TELUQ University. Evoking “the duty of reserve inherent” in her new functions, she declined Tuesday’s interview request from Duty.
Soon to be abolished
Bernard Drainville’s reform, adopted on December 7, enshrines the abolition of the CAPFE and the transfer of its responsibilities to the National Institute of Excellence in Education, which should be created for the start of the 2024 school year. Until then, given the resignation of members, the minister therefore found himself without an entity to approve new programs, launched in a context of labor shortage.
Bill 23 provided for transitional measures to allow the CAPFE to examine, “at the request of the Minister, new teacher training programs”. The Committee also has, under the reform, a period of 60 days to formulate its opinion, a period beyond which the elected official can consider having received a response – whether this is really the case or not.
When they resigned in May, the former members of CAPFE said they felt it was impossible for them to work rigorously in the circumstances. Quebec having refused in the past to fill vacant seats on the CAPFE, only four voting members remained to evaluate more than 150 programs, explained the resigning interim president Liliane Binggeli to the Duty.
Ms. Binggeli also judged that the 60-day period provided for in the law was far too short. “Why are we delving into analyzes that take hours and mobilizing universities if at the end of the day, the minister does what he wants? », she asked.