Although Quebec’s 2023-2024 budget ensures that services, particularly in education, will not be affected by maintaining, for this year, the annual growth in education spending at 6%, despite the announcement of $1.5 billion dollars over five years, we see the possibility that as of the next budget, this growth will drop to 3%, and no longer cover system costs. However, the problems affecting the education system and network are profound, especially since they result from problems accumulated over the years and decades.
This budget still makes us wait for concrete solutions to complex problems while offering us, in the meantime, insufficient leads. Means are mentioned to stimulate a taste for reading in students, but nothing has yet even been designed for numeracy, which we nevertheless want to name. Above all, the lion’s share of the $449 million over five years goes to the establishment of a tutoring platform, which must be provided by competent and qualified resources, and adequately paid so that they can last.
As for the idea of extending the classroom support pilot projects to the primary level, it would provide two additional (non-qualified) resources per school, for a total of 200 schools. Moreover, we do not understand the announcement of the hiring of pedagogical advisers to support the teachers. We imagine that for this too, details will come — will they be teachers too? The next school year is in six months!
We are also most concerned that the government is counting on a “teacher effect” — which would place teachers on the shoulders of using “effective teaching practices” in order to achieve “significant improvement in school results […] and this, regardless of the socio-economic conditions of the students and the effects of the rationalization of resources”. And this, while emphasizing the importance of pedagogical leadership exercised by school principals and the general management of school service centres. What does that mean? That unilateral decisions taken from “above” and at the expense of families, as the media have given us heartbreaking examples, will be repeated more? It is impossible for us not to worry about this imbalance of powers and means, and not to assume that parents, even involved in school boards, will not be consulted, but “informed”.
But precisely when too many students in difficulty face problems of access and follow-up, we are surprised to see measures mentioned intended to better support them, without too many details — hiring of new specialized resources, educational services additional online services for parents and students (which would shift the burden back onto parents, who are already overwhelmed and in need of help), support for private schools welcoming children with disabilities or experiencing difficulty adapting or learning.
Above all, the smallness of the envelope for this year is surprising ($66 million over five years), given the needs and the distress brought to the attention of all of Quebec in recent weeks, which reveals a long-standing inadequacy date of resources, part of which is gone, exhausted or in search of better conditions (in the health network, in particular).
The government also confirms its desire that all secondary schools develop at least one specific project, starting next fall. But will these new projects really be accessible to all students? Above all, we would like the government to have the firm will to offer stimulating basic training by adding specific paths for everyone, based on the potentials and resources of the communities. Moreover, the government does not financially support students attending special educational projects… and the others, those in regular school?
With regard to school infrastructure, we welcome an increase in the envelope, but noting that our public schools are in worse condition than in 2018 and that there is still no clear, transparent, public and accessible to allow us to follow these investments by the school service centres.
Finally, with regard to the efficiency of the network and of the Ministry of Education, we salute everything that can contribute to the collection and sharing, to the pooling of data in a systematized, structured and efficient way. But this ministry has experienced methodological problems in the past, especially during the pandemic.
In addition, we can only worry about statements without explanation that announce the funding and implementation of a new model of school governance. Since the French-language education system has become highly centralized following Bill 40, and since the Prime Minister mentioned appointments to the heads of school service centres, we want to emphasize the fact that it is clear directives, based on solid and efficient methodologies, and applied throughout the network that we need.
Beyond the announcements and fine speeches on education made over the past five years, this government lacks the political will to resolve the fundamental problems and offer a stimulating and coherent vision for our elementary and secondary education system so that all students of Quebec can realize their potential.