When Josée Scalabrini says the phrase in an interview, reality catches up with her.
She takes a deep breath and catches her breath. “Yes, after 11 years as president of the FSE [Fédération des syndicats de l’enseignement], I will leave in June. »
Most of its members must learn it by reading this text.
I wanted to take advantage of his perspective to talk about the evolution of the network.
Since her election as vice-president and then president of the FSE, she has seen nine ministers pass through. She would have preferred to see less. “The lack of stability has hurt the network,” she laments.
The cause ? The turnover at the head of the Ministry of Education, but also its politicization.
The network’s foundation is increasingly fragile. Politicians all say that education is their priority. But they arrive with their solutions in the campaign, and once in power, they must carry them out. We add floors instead of strengthening the foundations.
Josée Scalabrini, president of the FSE
This fragile foundation is that of a three-tier system where students in difficulty have been integrated into the regular class without resources following suit.
And the floors? She gives the example of 4-year-old nursery schools, a priority for François Legault. The idea was good, she wants to point out. “But it shouldn’t have been wall-to-wall. We were already short of premises and teachers, and that made the problem worse. »
Mme Scalabrini does not want to target the CAQ. The same trend existed among liberals, with intensive English or smart whiteboards. “Some stayed in the furnace room, the teachers didn’t want them,” she says.
The outgoing president of the FSE is not reassured by the creation of a National Institute of Excellence in Education, which must use evidence to determine best practices. “We would have liked more guarantees to protect the independence of the Institute in relation to the Ministry,” she said.
Mme Scalabrini does not want to leave giving the impression of settling scores. She wishes to take advantage of her end of mandate to broaden reflection on the role of school.
When the sedentary lifestyle of young people, sexual violence or financial illiteracy make the headlines, the solution is always the same: add a course.
Taken in isolation, ideas can all seem good. The problem is that they pile up. However, there is a limit to the number of hours in a day. These demands also increase the task of teachers, who do not always receive the required training.
“As a society, to what extent do we want school to solve all our problems? »
Mme Scalabrini began her career as a teacher at the Saint-Joseph high school in Mont-Laurier. She taught morals and religion classes there.
“I don’t come from a unionist background. I had prejudices, to be honest… But since I was interested in working conditions, I was asked to get involved…”
During his career, Mme Scalabrini had before her a whole catalog of ministers. Who was the easiest to work with? Liberal Sébastien Proulx. “He was approachable. If he disagreed, he said so, but he could consider another point of view than his own and he listened. »
During the pandemic, unions were accused of always criticizing the solutions proposed. Mme Scalabrini denies this. “We wanted to quickly relay the point of view of people on the ground to identify the right solutions. But what bothered us was learning the decisions live at the Prime Minister’s press briefing. The Ministry of Education was sometimes also in the same position. »
However, she regrets having directly described as “terrible” the request to teachers to contact their students during confinement. “I was not against the principle. What I feared was that teachers would fail to do this – some were busy parents themselves. I was afraid that children would be forgotten. »
Education is a tricky ministry. From the outside, it seems like any proposal will end up being denounced by at least one group.
The teacher shortage is real. It is estimated that almost 20% of people leave the profession after five years. Unions’ mission is to fight for better working conditions. In this sense, their denunciations are useful.
But by emphasizing what is going wrong, do they not risk discouraging young people from enrolling in education faculties?
Mme Scalabrini acknowledges the balance is delicate, but she doesn’t think she’s gone too far.
“When I arrived at the FSE, we noticed that teachers were not valued, even though according to surveys, it was a profession that was considered among the most important for society. Members were asked why. They told us: it’s because you never talk about beauty. » In 2012, the FSE therefore launched the “Professor, my pride” campaign. Two conferences on this theme have been organized, and others will follow.
His other priorities at the FSE were to also place emphasis on educational work and the modification of union practices. She had to leave before the last collective agreement negotiation. She had agreed to extend her mandate, warning that she would not complete it.
In ending the interview, it is difficult not to talk about the schism at the FSE which led to the creation of the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE), shortly before his arrival as vice-president.
She hesitates to speak out on this subject. Should the two unions collaborate more? “We approached them,” she remembers. They told us: if we became autonomous, it was not to work with someone else. But it will be up to members to decide if they want to change that. »