It’s over for Jean-François Roberge, who headed the Ministry of Education for four years. It is the former radio host and former PQ minister, Bernard Drainville, who will take up the torch. The community hopes to have a minister who will not embellish reality and who will tackle the problem of shortages in particular.
“Four years ago, in the same place, I told you that if I had just one priority to choose, it would be education”, launched the Prime Minister, François Legault, during his speech after the unveiling of the Council of Ministers, Thursday. “In 2022, I haven’t changed my mind. Education is where it all begins,” he insisted.
An assertion greeted with a certain skepticism by actors in the field, who are eager to start the dialogue.
“The shortage [de personnel] must be a priority. We can work on any other file, if we don’t have people in the middle […]we will do nothing, ”says Éric Gingras, president of the Central Trade Unions of Quebec (CSQ).
Dilapidated establishments, academic success, the three-speed school and the lack of resources for students with special needs are also among the problems that regularly surface.
Nicolas Prévost, president of the Quebec Federation of Educational Establishment Directors (FQDE), welcomes the arrival of Bernard Drainville, who already knows the workings of Parliament, and now hopes that he will give “the right “.
“What Mr. Roberge was criticized for was not always giving the exact overview of the problems in education. It was a little embellished,” he says.
“We hope to have a minister connected with the Montreal school”, comments for her part Catherine Beauvais-St-Pierre, president of the Alliance of teachers of Montreal, who says she has repeatedly invited Mr. Roberge to visit the schools. Montrealers. “We expect the next minister to be more open and to have this curiosity. Mr. Drainville is a former journalist, so we assume that he will want to see what is happening on the ground,” she said.
His wishes could be granted. “In the next few weeks, I will take time to go to schools. To talk to teachers, to be in the classroom, to talk to school staff, ”said the principal concerned during a press scrum with journalists.
Bernard Drainville did not answer to know what his priority would be, but affirmed that several files were “important”, that “the focus is the children” and that “there are a lot of people that I have to meet before I make a final head.
A disturbing past
Another former journalist, the member for Repentigny, Pascale Déry, will be on her side at the head of the Ministry of Higher Education.
The fact that she is a former collaborator at the Montreal Economic Institute “raises eyebrows” the president of the National Federation of Quebec Teachers (FNEEQ-CSN), Caroline Quesnel. “We don’t want higher education to be used simply as a tool to solve labor market problems,” she says.
She adds that she hopes the Minister will be a strong voice. “We expect to be at the forefront,” she insists.
For its part, the Quebec Student Union considers that it is “excellent news” that the two ministries remain split. The president, Samy-Jane Tremblay, adds that there are “several urgent matters” to settle.
“We must have the draft regulation adopted as quickly as possible, which reduces the parental contribution in the calculation of Student Financial Assistance,” she stresses.