The recording of a teacher from Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac screaming in front of her first grade students was heard even in the Prime Minister’s office.
“It’s appalling what we hear on the soundtrack,” said François Legault at the opening of a press briefing on Tuesday in Quebec.
Like his Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, he was delighted to see the teacher suspended and that investigations were launched by the Deux-Montagnes police department and the Center de services scolaire des Thousand Islands.
“It’s completely unacceptable for children to be bullied like that, it’s totally unacceptable,” he said in disbelief.
” It is the horror “
Earlier, Minister Drainville made no secret of having been shaken by the recording of the teacher screaming in front of her first-grade students at the École des Grands-Vents in Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac.
“Honestly, it’s horrible when I hear that. It’s horror as a minister, then it’s horror as a father of three children. »
In addition to the investigations by the police and the Center de services scolaire, Bernard Drainville specified that the general investigation mandate that he recently triggered applies in such a case since this mandate does not only concern allegations of sexual misconduct. , but also any inappropriate behavior that puts the psychological safety of children at risk.
The Minister said he was convinced that the teacher should not have been in class. “One thing is certain, in the state where she was, she was absolutely not able to teach children. »
Psychological support
He assured that psychological support was offered not only to the children in the class and their parents, but to all children and parents in the school.
“Honestly, I can understand as a parent that these parents are in shock, that they fear that their child has been marked by this,” he said.
A former journalist himself, the Minister took the opportunity to recall that the leaders of School Service Centers are also accountable. The director of the Center de services scolaire des Mille-Îles, Nathalie Joannette, had taken some time to make herself available. “It is necessary that, more and more in cases that involve the management of service centers, that the general management, directors and directors speak up, it is their responsibility. It’s even in the law,” said the minister.
“Principals are the spokespersons for their school service center and you shouldn’t have to go through it multiple times to get interviews at one time. Service center executives are accountable and should make themselves available to the media. »
The recordings of the teacher, broadcast Monday by QUB radio, aroused the indignation of the population across the province.