The Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, is moving from words to action: he adds short courses of 30 credits to the list of programs which give access to a teaching authorization, a decision which “scandalises” the teaching unions. teachers, who are in full negotiation with the Legault government.
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Minister Drainville took advantage of the end of the detailed study of his school reform contained in Bill 23 to table an amendment on Wednesday which will allow, once the bill is adopted, graduates of six new short programs to obtain the teaching certificate, after completing training four times shorter than the full baccalaureate (30 university credits rather than 120) and an internship in a school environment.
These programs will however be recognized on a provisional basis, until June 2027, the time to allow their evaluation, it is specified in Minister Drainville’s office. These are also second-cycle courses. Only students who have already completed a bachelor’s degree in a related discipline can be admitted, as is the case for qualifying master’s degrees in teaching of 60 credits.
In recent months, the minister’s desire to accelerate the training of teachers to counter the shortage has sparked an outcry, both within the university network and among the teaching unions who see it as a race to the bottom.
“Discount” patents
Following the amendment tabled yesterday, the Federation of Education Unions (FSE-CSQ) said it was “scandalized”, affirming that the minister wants to grant “discounted patents”.
A 30-credit program in preschool and primary education will make it possible to obtain the teaching certificate, a decision that goes particularly badly since training at primary level is very different from that by subject taught at secondary level, it is argued.
“This decision is part of a desire for deprofessionalization which was expressed throughout the study of bill no.o 23: reduce initial training, restrict the professional autonomy of teaching staff, centralize management and orient it even more on statistics. This is Minister Drainville’s vision for our profession,” said Brigitte Bilodeau, first vice‐president and responsible for professional and educational files of the FSE‐CSQ, in a press release.