The priorities of the new Minister of Education, Bernard Drainvilleaim right but remains to be seen how they will be implemented, affirm several actors of the school network who remain on their appetite.
“These are good priorities, everything will be in the how. What solutions will we find? The danger, for the minister, will be to try to find simple solutions to complicated problems, ”says Éric Gingras, president of the Centrale des unions de l’enseignement.
The story is similar on the side of the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE). “The minister is offering us things that may seem interesting at first glance, but we are not yet in the means, says its president, Mélanie Hubert. We remain unsatisfied, the devil is in the details.
The unions welcome the minister’s desire to add daycare educators to the classroom to lend a hand to the teachers. The pilot project that is currently taking place represents a “real balm” for teachers, underlines Josée Scalabrini, president of the Federation of teaching unions (FSE-CSQ).
The relaxations envisaged to train teachers more quickly, however, raise fears. “We don’t want cheap training,” says Mélanie Hubert.
Improving the working conditions of teachers – but also of all school staff – must also be part of the solutions to counter the shortage, add the unions.
School administrators also believe that it is simplistic to want to solve the problem of the shortage by betting only on a “fast track” to access the teaching profession. “It’s far too limited for a much broader issue,” says Nicolas Prévost, president of the Quebec Federation of Educational Establishment Directors.
Adding reinforcements to the class is also a good solution, provided “you have the arms” to implement it, adds Mr. Prévost.
The shortage in childcare services is just as problematic as the lack of teachers and we will also have to find solutions to remedy it, adds Carl Ouellet, president of the Association québécoise du personnel de directions des écoles. .
Many also wonder how the addition of specific projects in the schools will make it possible to tackle inequalities in the school network, since it will be difficult to ensure that all students have access to them. “Does this really solve the problem of the three-speed school?” wonders Éric Gingras.
For its part, the Quebec Federation of Committees regrets that the fight against bullying and violence in schools is not part of this ministerial “game plan”. “Students have to feel good at school,” recalls its president, Kévin Roy.