Faced with the many challenges present in our society, both nationally and internationally, the only words that come to mind are those of Nelson Mandela: “Education is the most powerful weapon in the world to change the world. “. Hence the importance of offering adequate training, relevant programs and services to enable Quebec students to become responsible, open, competent and well-equipped citizens to influence and meet the current challenges of our society.
It is in this context and in the image of the positioning of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), according to which “the strengthening of governance mechanisms and practices is an essential element in guaranteeing the effectiveness of services organizations”, that the government has changed the governance of our public organizations, including that of our educational institutions.
But are the changes made to the governance of our educational institutions producing the expected results? Not quite !
Remember that the good governance of an organization is primarily the responsibility of the board of directors (CA). The governance approach currently encouraged is a value-creating approach. It draws on all of the skills of the administrators, who thus enrich the decisions of our establishments. In addition, the Board’s role is no longer limited to adopting budgets, financial statements and policies. It must define the strategic orientations, determine the objectives, ensure the implementation of the resulting actions, then evaluate the results on the basis of targeted indicators.
For school service centers (CSS), bringing together elementary and secondary education, the new Education Act was adopted in 2019, which replaced the Council of Commissioners with a Board of Directors and integrated governance requirements. For the college network, which already relies on the presence of CAs, we note that the Colleges Act has not, however, been amended since 1993.
In 2019, the Minister nevertheless sent requests to the chairs of the Boards to implement a good governance practice, namely the creation of three statutory committees: governance and ethics, audit and finance, human resources. These advisory committees to the Board have the general responsibility of analyzing specific questions falling within their respective fields of competence.
To strengthen the governance of our establishments and thus participate in the achievement of ambitious objectives, we must put in place better governance practices, including the appointment of independent and credible directors and the effective implementation of the three statutory committees.
But what is the level of integration of these practices in our establishments? In view of the following observations, we note that these encouraged governance practices are not present everywhere, or they are present in variable geometry. We have to be concerned about it.
Independent directors
It is important to be in the presence of independent directors. Because, as stated by Professor Yvan Allaire, Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Directors of IGOPP (Institute for the Governance of Private and Public Organizations), “the primary virtue of a director is his independence”. We must take a look at the appointment process, and therefore at the legitimacy of directors. How were members nominated and by whom were they elected?
The administrator must make decisions in the interest of the organization, and not in his personal interest or that of his group. The Education Act regulates this process by Ministerial Regulation and specifies the conditions required to become a member. It excludes any leader or representative of an association representing the employees of a CSS (art. 4).
In the college environment, the Colleges Act indicates that seven of the fifteen members are appointed by the minister. For the four staff members, they are elected by their peers. In this regard, the selection processes differ from college to college depending on their institutional regulations. We note that some are appointed by the union assembly and are answerable to it. This does not ensure their independence.
Credible administrators
The presence of credible directors is a foundation of value-creating governance. Management and stakeholders will be convinced of the added value of the Board if they are in the presence of competent administrators, who understand the values and the challenges of the establishment. In the CSS, the Education Act could have entrusted the governance and ethics committee with the responsibility of developing a profile of skills and experience sought in administrators, but this is not the case, too bad .
For colleges, no requirements have been formulated. Our educational institutions have an interest in establishing the collective profile of experience and skills that should be gathered on the board and taking this into account when recruiting. Moreover, it would be desirable for the Minister, who appoints seven administrators of CAs in the college network, to take this important aspect into consideration.
Statutory Committees
Finally, another encouraged practice is the establishment of statutory committees. These committees make it possible to distribute the work of preparing files among the members of the Board, who can call on specialized external resources. The Education Act requires the creation of these committees and specifies their mandate (s. 193.1). For the college network, at the request of the minister in 2019, colleges responded positively and were inspired by the tools provided by the ministry and drafted by the IGOPP. In 2023, only one-third of colleges have implemented these committees.
It is clear that important steps have been taken to strengthen the governance of our educational institutions. We would like to thank the current administrators who are involved and who invest a lot of time and energy.
I therefore invite the government to continue its process of improving governance by going further and supporting educational institutions in the full implementation of these governance practices.