School managements are too overwhelmed to organize all the outings in place of teachers and some will therefore not take place, while teachers go on work-to-rule strike as a means of pressure in the context of collective agreement negotiations.
“The cultural community is right to be concerned, because that means that, as long as this is not resolved, there will be fewer outings,” underlines Kathleen Legault, president of the Montreal Association of School Directors. (AMDES).
The cultural community is seeing a drop in reservations this fall and the arrival of students has also been canceled in some theaters, reported The duty Tuesday morning. Teachers who are members of the Autonomous Education Federation (FAE), who voted to boycott activities, will however attend cultural outings if these are organized by schools.
Activities have already been organized and will take place, and others are “turnkey”, specifies AMDES. For others, management can organize them if they are simple. But “in concrete terms we cannot organize all the activities for the students, so that means that there will be fewer activities,” underlines Kathleen Legault.
She specifies that several administrative tasks still need to be done by September 30 and that school administrations are also facing a staff shortage. “Each outing requires reservations, letters to parents, a request to the governing board,” she lists. Some can easily be taken care of but everyone is overwhelmed at the moment so school secretaries can hardly be asked to do more. »
The fact that outings will not take place concerns AMDES. “In our more vulnerable neighborhoods, where young people may have less access to a diverse cultural offering, this is more worrying,” says Kathleen Legault. We can also think of our students from recent immigration where outings are sometimes part of integration activities. »
Contacted by The duty, the office of the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, indicated that it understood the concerns of the cultural community. “We will not make any comments, apart from the fact that we hope that the negotiations are concluded as quickly as possible,” we wrote.
For its part, the Montreal School Service Center (CSSDM) says it is measuring the impact of this situation in its environments and will keep parents informed of the evolution of the situation. “Our priority remains the maintenance of quality educational services and we hope that the parties involved in the negotiation will quickly reach an agreement,” writes spokesperson Alain Perron. Our greatest wish is that this school year can proceed as normally as possible for our students. »
The Quebec Association of School Management Personnel (AQPDE) for its part did not wish to comment.