(Quebec) The Ministry of Education is once again reviewing the dates of some of its ministerial tests in June, while a first calendar which was submitted to schools created a shock wave in the network, since it compromised the holding of end-of-year activities and threatened to confine teachers to corrections rather than spending time with their students.
In interview with The Press, the vice-president of the FSE-CSQ, Brigitte Bilodeau, welcomes the change of direction of the ministry. Last January, the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, announced that the end-of-year ministerial exams were being postponed “by two to seven days to maximize teaching time”. However, no examination was to take place after June 21, he specified.
In a newsletter intended for schools (a “sanction info”, in school jargon), Quebec recently announced its new calendar. At primary level, the tests normally submitted to students at the end of May and the beginning of June were postponed until June 17, 18 and 19. This was the case, among others, for the French writing exam in 4e primary year, as well as in mathematics for students in 6e year.
A shock wave
This news created a shock wave in several schools, since the school calendar ends this year on Friday June 21. For several teachers, keeping these new dates was equivalent to canceling end-of-year activities and trips, which in some cases highlight the transition from primary to secondary, and confining teachers to correcting exams rather than taking the final ones. school days with their students.
” From [jeudi après-midi] afternoon, we questioned the ministry on these issues and very quickly, they told us that they had not seen that and [qu’ils allaient trouver] a solution,” announces Mme Bilodeau, who says she is satisfied with the proposal for a new calendar that was made by Quebec.
New dates for the ministerial exams will be submitted in the coming days by the Ministry of Education, she adds, in order to respect Minister Drainville’s desire to postpone the exams, to allow more time for teaching. , without penalizing the children and teachers who will end an incredible school year in June.
At the time of publication, the Ministry of Education had not clarified The Press its new calendar.