Guy Rocher will be 100 years old this week. Without the work and achievements of this great sociologist, I certainly would not have had the same life journey. I feel that I have walked on the roads that he helped to build through his commitments to the State of Quebec.
The first reason why my parents chose to immigrate to Quebec, 35 years ago, was to provide quality public education for their children.
I arrived in Quebec at the age of 10. From elementary to high school, I attended public schools in Montreal and Laval. I met students from different social classes with whom I forged my Quebec identity.
My parents made the choice to send their five children to the public, because they had no fear that we would have an excellent education. At that time, secondary school shopping from 5e primary year did not exist. When I look at the state of public schools and the growing inequalities, I wonder if my parents would have made the same choice today.
Mr. Rocher, who was a member of the Parent Commission and one of the architects of our public education system, has been warning us for several years about three-tier schools. The objective of the Parent report comes down to this idea: equal opportunities for all children in Quebec.
Unfortunately, we are far, very far from this goal. School segregation, skimming, competition, elitism, inequity, these are realities against which Mr. Rocher has fought all his life and which have been making a comeback over the past twenty years, because of decisions taken by previous governments which contributed to a commodification of the education system.
Mr. Rocher has taken strong positions, mainly on the fact that we have allowed a three-tier system to develop (public, subsidized private and selective public) which is corrupting our education network and which mainly harms students.
Today, for its centenary, we must hear and listen carefully to what it says about our Quebec school. What he tells us is as relevant as what he told us in the 1960s about the state of public education, where inequalities were glaring. Clearly, we are witnessing a step backwards.
Thirst for hope
During the recent heroic teachers’ strike, I had the chance to have countless conversations with them. And I can tell you that the three-tier school, which increases their workload because of the concentration of students in difficulty in regular classes, was the most discussed subject on the picket lines. Teachers are also experiencing the repercussions of growing inequalities.
The population is thirsty for hope. Hope in our education network, in an egalitarian network that takes care of all students, regardless of their parents’ income or where they live in Quebec.
As a member of Quebec solidaire who attended public school at a time when inequalities were less marked than today, I want to work to ensure that Quebec parents make the same choice that my parents made for me . But for that, we must seriously tackle the inequalities in our education system.
Let’s celebrate the life and commitment of Guy Rocher. Let us be inspired by his journey and his work for our public school.
And as a gift to Mr. Rocher, let us offer ourselves an education network that eliminates inequalities and offers the best to the children of Quebec.