The nonsense put forward by the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, is appalling. Especially at the very moment when he is unilaterally imposing his “Barrette” reform in the school world. A reform prepared on the sly, without public debate, and which aims, among other things, to muzzle the school environment.
A first step has been taken with the elimination of school decentralization. During the pandemic, which school boards publicly lamented classroom ventilation problems and urged the Department of Education to do more and better? The minister takes control of the school system by announcing that its main systemic problem (the three-speed school) does not exist. And he ensures that those who allege an unfair school system, as the Superior Council of Education did in 2016, will be silent: he abolishes the Council, it was enough to think about it!
The minister seems to have become an emulator of the late Camil Samson with his “Quebec is on the edge of the precipice [scolaire], let’s take a step forward! »…
Moreover, we understand the priority announced for “class management”. It is often the last resort recommended for teachers who find themselves overwhelmed in the ordinary classroom.
We read: “The minister sees the dgs as actors aiming to “operationalize” the orientations of the ministry. “In fact, there is a misunderstanding, we surely mean “the orientations of the minister”. However, the term “actor” seems appropriate.
If we look retrospectively at the Quebec school system, we see that inequalities have diminished, but that educational inequity has persisted. In recent years, with the expansion of segregated pathways, the system has amplified inequities. I personally experienced public school in an underprivileged environment during the seven years of primary school in Pointe-Saint-Charles, in the 1950s. And when we registered our three children in programs without selection in the public schools in Montreal, my wife and I understood how much parents had to invest in supporting and stimulating children.
Just recently, one of our granddaughters wanted, in second grade (sic), to “not go to school anymore” because of the rowdiness that reigned in her class. She was in public elementary school. Her parents eventually enrolled her in private school, which was selective, expensive and heavily subsidized by the government. Our granddaughter is now in high school with other eager-to-learn students, still in a private school that offers a uniquely stimulating curriculum and activities and resources unimaginable in “regular” pathways.
Increased training in “classroom management” for teachers who become dedicated and burnt out in the regular classroom? Of course ! However, the major source of the problems is not management, but the systemic effects of an elitist structure. Can’t the Minister see that the privileged paths (in private schools as well as in public schools) have the effect of lowering the level of education for young people who stay in ordinary schools?
And this is the case of our six grandchildren whose parents can afford private schools which clearly favor an advantageous professional future for the children. The statistics confirm it. “It’s an ideological bias” or rather “a conceptual bias”, says the minister instead.
To make up for his ignorance, wouldn’t the minister and his staff gain from reading The heirs of Pierre Bourdieu and Jean-Claude Passeron by wondering whether certain observations do not apply to Quebec? Or the Parent report.
The Premier of Quebec announced that education was his priority and he reiterated it. It is sad to note that the “education” priority suffers a similar fate to the third link.
Tens of thousands of children continue to bear the brunt of the proclaimed blindness and announced inaction of the Minister of Education. When the minister proves publicly incompetent, who will be in a position to tackle inequalities?