A few days before the election, do you want to know the promises of the parties to solve crucial problems that directly affect the lives of citizens in Quebec? The duty asked voters what they expect from the government to be elected next Monday. Education today.
A high number of schools in poor condition waiting to be renovated, a “three-speed” education system that creates segregation and accentuates inequalities, a lack of professionals and of consideration for pupils in difficulty or with learning difficulties… As election day approaches, The duty presents the commitments of the five political parties that affect these issues.
Electress: Catherine Baril, 43, mother of three
Problem: Fear of regular classes to the public
Catherine Baril has “almost” her feet in the famous three-tier system in education, divided between the private network, the enriched paying public and regular classes.
His son Florent, in secondary 4, is dyslexic, dysorthographic and suffers from an auditory processing disorder, attends the specialized private school Vanguard, whose schooling of the student is subsidized by the Ministry of Education. Her daughter Flavie, in secondary 2, was admitted to a musical concentration in a public school further from her home, at the other end of the island of Laval. His youngest, Rosemarie, is in sixth grade and will go to the local public school in high school, possibly in a concentration in sports.
“We hope she doesn’t end up in the regular,” her mother said. A fear shared by others, and which she does not find normal. “We should equalize all that. Why a minority of students would be entitled to private and beautiful schools, she says. It skims. Those who don’t have money find themselves in neighborhood schools with learning problems, it creates clans and divisions”.
Sending her child to a concentration to the public is expensive, adds the one who will pay hundreds of dollars this year. “It should be free,” she blurts out.
Party promises
QS: Québec solidaire would immediately eliminate all school fees charged in public establishments, from preschool to secondary school. The party would initiate the conversion of private schools that so wish into public schools while gradually ending public funding of private schools. It also wants to ensure universal access to special projects in public schools, by banning academic and financial selection for these projects.
PQ: The Parti Québécois promises to gradually withdraw subsidies granted to private schools and to abolish selection based on grades and income. The party is committed to setting up a “Parent 2.0 commission” to reflect on the future of education.
PLQ: The Liberal Party of Quebec is committed to offering up to $5,000 to families to defray the costs of specific programs in the public network, for example sports-studies or the international baccalaureate.
PCQ: The Conservative Party of Quebec wants to establish a system of education vouchers allowing all parents to choose their child’s school, private or public. The party would also focus on special programs, offer optional subjects in primary school, increase the number of alternative schools and create classes for high-level students.
CAQ: The CAQ did not make specific commitments on the issue of three-speed schools during the election campaign. But, since this fall, Quebec has been reimbursing parents for the cost of registration in specific programs up to a maximum of $200.
The opinion of the experts
The commitments of the parties reflect the left-right spectrum well, notes Claude Lessard, professor emeritus at the University of Montreal and former president of the Superior Council of Education.
The Conservatives’ desire to increase competition is “to the extreme”, he says. “Attempts of this order that have been made in American cities have not lasted long,” he says. It divides and increases inequalities.
He notes that the PQ and QS have the merit of going further than the other parties by wishing to tackle “unfair” competition from the private sector, which monopolizes the best elements and harms social and educational diversity.
Michel Perron, a retired professor from the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi and the Cégep de Jonquière, who compared the positions of the parties in a table, notes that only these two parties reject the status quo of the three-tier system.
“We are far from being in a unanimity of perspective,” he said. As for the CAQ, they have a series of proposals but changing school structures and stopping funding from private to public, I don’t think that’s in their priorities.
According to him, the future government will have to quickly set up a major project on this issue in collaboration with all political parties, and including experts, parents and professionals in the field.
The elector’s vote
For Catherine Baril, who closely follows the election campaign, education takes a big place when making her choice. In the last elections, she had voted for the CAQ. But this time, it is the PQ which has its vote. “They have realistic ideas and I would like them to become the opposition,” she said. They are the ones who have the most interesting platform in education”.
Electress: Nathalie Laurencelle, 48, mother of two teenagers
First problem: Schools in poor condition
The problem of dilapidated schools is not new and Nathalie Laurencelle knows something about it. Already when her eldest daughter, now 25, was attending Sophie-Barat secondary school, the building was in poor condition.
His two teenagers, aged 14 and 15, now attend the establishment. Améliane, who is in secondary 3, takes almost all of her classes in an annex, while part of the main building was closed in 2020 due to a risk of collapse.
The girl tells the To have to that last year she and her friends had to travel an hour by bus to a primary school that offered them space. “We all found ourselves having to go several kilometers from home,” she drops, a little exasperated.
Party promises
CAQ: The Coalition avenir Québec promises to renovate 600 schools in poor condition during a second mandate. In total, $2 billion would be added to the $7 billion already provided for the next four years in the Quebec Infrastructure Plan.
PLQ: The Quebec Liberal Party is proposing a project to upgrade and build primary and secondary schools. An amount of 4 billion would be added to the planned investments.
QS: Québec solidaire is committed to setting up a renovation, expansion, greening and construction project “for healthy schools”. This represents an investment of 1.6 billion over four years.
PQ: The Parti Québécois promises to invest in renovating dilapidated schools in the province by adding $575 million a year to the Quebec Infrastructure Plan, for a total additional investment of $2.3 billion. He would carry out the necessary work over 4 years instead of 10 years.
PCQ: The Conservative Party of Quebec proposes to increase school maintenance budgets and will set up a national project for the creation of new modern schools and the renovation of schools in an acceptable state.
Expert advice
Jean-Pascal Foucault, a longtime expert in physical asset management and a professor in Quebec and France, doubts that the CAQ will succeed in renovating 600 schools in four years, even if the political party has mentioned taking into account the lack of manpower. works under construction when he announced his engagement.
“I don’t think there’s the manpower to take on such a volume in four years,” he says. There is a lack of qualified and trained personnel. The biggest problem when we talk about dilapidated schools is to prepare the plumbers, carpenters and masons who will do this work over the next thirty years”.
The investments proposed by the CAQ and the other political parties are insufficient and the costs will probably be exceeded, he adds.
Second problem: Students in difficulty
Malik, Nathalie Laurencelle’s son, has autism spectrum disorder and is dysphasic. He has been in “broken operation” since August 2021, says his mother. “He sleeps several hours in a row, he has migraines and cannot function in the normal system,” she describes.
According to her, the school has a poor understanding of the reality of autistic people and she feels that she has not received enough support. “Their needs are not the same,” she says. It is perhaps the structure of the school that needs to be reviewed”.
She says Malik didn’t have access to speech therapy for three years when he was in elementary school, only to get one hour every two weeks in sixth grade. But this is not enough to catch up. “It accumulates in high school,” says his mother.
Party promises for students in difficulty
PLQ: The Quebec Liberal Party wants to introduce a tax credit of up to $500 to cover expenses incurred for speech therapy or orthopedagogy. A Liberal government would create a Secretariat for Persons Living with a Disability or Autism Spectrum with a lead minister.
CAQ: The party is committed to increasing services for students in difficulty by creating a virtual platform, which would allow consultations with a professional.
PQ: The Parti Québécois proposes to modify the methods of financing for the pupils who have difficulties and to put an end to the financing by category of difficulty, to better distribute it. The party also wants to invest an additional $200 million per year to add professionals to primary and secondary schools as well as hours of work for support staff.
QS: The party promises to set a floor of professional services so that each member of staff has fewer students in their charge. The party is also committed to increasing financial support for CEGEPs and universities in the regions.
The opinion of an expert
With regard to support for students with disabilities or social maladjustments or learning difficulties (EHDAA), professor in the Department of Specialized Education and Training at UQAM, Catherine Turcotte, believes that political parties are not grounded in reality.
“You have to be disconnected to think that there are professionals out there,” she says. Increasing professional services is a great promise. It’s not that the schools are short of money, but there are no staff and the lists are empty”.
According to her, the challenge lies above all in retention. She also doubts that the virtual platform offered by the CAQ for meetings with a professional can work. “Tele-remedial education could be a good idea, but remedial teachers are already buried under their student files,” she points out.
The elector’s vote
Nathalie Laurencelle says she is unhappy with political parties when it comes time to talk about children with special needs and neuro atypical. Even if no party “can please 100%”, its vote will go to Québec solidaire because the party represents its values such as mutual aid and the sharing of wealth.