It would be 44% of secondary school students who would attend private school or a specific selective program in the public network, calculates the Institute for Socioeconomic Research and Information (IRIS). A situation which has “worsened” since the publication of a comparable study in 2017, says IRIS, and which testifies to segregation reproducing social inequalities within schools.
“We have an education system that is having difficulty fulfilling one of its missions, which should be to reduce social inequalities”, launches Anne Plourde, researcher at IRIS who wrote a socio-economic sheet made public on Wednesday.
Data compiled by the Institute through Freedom of Information requests show that 21% of secondary school students attend private school. IRIS also estimates that 23% of them are registered in a particular program in the public network, which represents a significant jump compared to the year 2013-2014, when IRIS calculated that approximately 17% of high school students participated in one of these programs.
The data obtained is imprecise, however, and the IRIS had to do some calculations to arrive at these figures, notes Anne Plourde, because schools are not required to provide the Ministry of Education with the number of students enrolled in programs. individuals. “It’s probably an underestimate and the numbers are higher than that,” she said.
This would therefore leave 56% of secondary school students in regular classes, says the researcher. As private and special programs have selection criteria, regular classes therefore have a higher concentration of students from less privileged socio-economic backgrounds or with poorer academic results or academic difficulties, she adds. . Among these programs, 76% involve fees of an average of $1,220 for parents, which can reach up to $14,000.
“These students are the most vulnerable, and they are the ones who would benefit the most from having access to specific programs,” says Anne Plourde. But since most programs are selective, we have as a result a reproduction of social inequalities within schools. »
Regions pay for major centers
IRIS also notes a constant increase in attendance at private schools at the primary and secondary levels, which reached 20% between 2001 and 2021. However, there has been a certain stabilization from the year 2013-2014.
“Public schools have succeeded in curbing the exodus to the private system, but at the cost of reproducing social inequalities within the public network itself”, emphasizes Anne Plourde, noting a 50% increase in secondary school students attending special programs since 2001.
The researcher also notes “interregional inequalities”. The proportion of secondary school students who attend the private sector is 34% in Montreal, compared to 5% on the North Shore or in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, or even 0% in Abitibi-Témiscamingue.
“We have a bigger problem in urban centers, on the one hand, argues Anne Plourde. On the other hand, this also means that the regions somehow finance the attendance of private schools in urban centres, because these schools are financed at 60% by public funds. The regions pay for the worsening of the problem of inequality in urban centres. »
A previous version of this text, which indicated that IRIS calculates that approximately 14% of secondary school students participated in a particular program in the public network, has been modified.