After three months of silence, the Minister of Education takes out the confetti to present us with a grocery list that lacks consistency. Expectations were high: what was Bernard Drainville working on to justify this absence, when education is a priority for the CAQ?
Finally, the priorities announced are imprecise, not quantified and above all without a clear vision for the important project that is the future of our children. I must nevertheless note that there are some interesting avenues with which I agree, such as the promotion of French or professional training, which deserve to be highlighted.
The teacher dropout
Dropping out of school is no longer just an issue for students! Female teachers are also jumping ship, often exhausted and underpaid. However, the minister does not deal at all with the elephant in the class: the working conditions of the staff of the school network. Many of those who left would be willing to return if their warning signs were taken seriously.
With workloads that are only increasing and becoming more complex, we will not see the end of the labor shortage in our schools without a concrete plan to improve working conditions. The Minister must not only improve salaries, but he must also reduce bureaucracy and review the composition of classes, as the milieu has long demanded. That must be the minister’s priority if he wants enough people to work in the schools to meet the needs of the students.
Denying the three-tier system sets back equal opportunities
Bernard Drainville can no longer act as if the three-tiered school was not the source of many problems in the field of education. Sixty years after the Parent report, it is so disturbing to see that the promise to promote equal opportunities has been broken by governments. The private sector, specific programs that are difficult to access, and the regular put our young people on very different paths, all the way to university! Did you know that 60% of private students, 51% of special program students and only 15% of regular students go to university? Quebec public schools unfortunately reproduce social inequalities.
Currently, the parents’ portfolio and academic results limit the educational path of less fortunate young people and the CAQ is complicit in this elitism. If the minister really wants to expand specific programs, he must start by removing financial barriers to make them free and open to everyone. Ending school segregation should be on Minister Drainville’s menu right now.
To be honest, I was expecting a much bigger plan. Let us add that many questions remain unanswered: the Minister does not know how much will be invested in his plan and he is unable to say how many teachers are currently missing in the network. It’s amateurism.
After three months as Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville has not demonstrated that he has a clear vision to ensure the success of our children: for the moment, he is failing the report card.
Photo provided by Québec solidaire
Ruba Ghazal, responsible for education at Québec solidaire