(Quebec) Teachers’ unions and school administrators are concerned about the process for appointing the eventual national student ombudsman. Some even ask Quebec that this new structure be entrusted to the Québec Ombudsman in order to “simplify and shorten the tortuous procedure” for complaints proposed by the government.
Posted at 2:07 p.m.
The Minister of Education, Jean-François Roberge, began public hearings on Tuesday for Bill 9, a reform tabled last fall to create a national student protector.
The Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE) welcomes the desire of Quebec to establish a uniform procedure for handling complaints for all students in Quebec. However, it doubts the usefulness of creating a national student ombudsman who oversees the regional student ombudspersons and proposes instead to confirm their mandate to the Québec Ombudsman.
“The Québec Ombudsman proposed [déjà] in 2017 that its service become the recourse for people dissatisfied with the handling of complaints made to school boards. Such a provision, which already exists for health and social services, would be achievable at a lower cost, while avoiding a duplication of government expertise in terms of recourse for the processing of complaints, ”estimates the teacher union.
But in the event of the creation of a national student protector, as provided for in the bill, the FAE considers that his appointment cannot be made by the government, which is not a “sufficient guarantee of neutrality”.
Ensure independence
The Centrale des unions du Québec (CSQ) and its education federations also asked Quebec City on Tuesday to review the process for appointing the future national student ombudsman so that he or she is appointed by a two-thirds vote of The national assembly.
“In the same vein, the appointment of regional protectors should be the responsibility of the government and not of the minister, to promote a healthy distance between them,” indicated the central union.
The CSQ is also concerned about the terms that will define the complaints that will be studied by the national protector. She wants them clarified. This request is also made by the school principals, who fear “the protector will be overwhelmed with complaints that he should not deal with”.
angry directions
In addition, the school principals gathered within the Quebec Federation of Educational Establishment Directors (FQDE) are angry with the Legault government, which refused their request to be heard in a parliamentary committee this week.
“It is absurd. You should know that as soon as the bill was announced, we immediately expressed our interest in being heard on various fronts. […] [Les directions d’écoles] will be the first concerned”, strongly denounced the president of the FQDE, Nicolas Prévost.
According to him, “the independence of the National Student Ombudsman is essential”, and it will be necessary to clarify what types of complaints he will deal with. “Many things can be settled on the ground between a complainant and the person concerned by the complaint. This aspect must be valued,” he said.
“As a parent, the first responder you go to when you have questions is the school administration. More than 90% of dissatisfactions and complaints are settled in the school directly with the management. The parent needs to have this link and he needs to know what the directions think [du projet de loi] added Mr. Prévost.