Faced with the extent of the lack of manpower and premises, the Legault government is forced to slow down the development of 4-year-old kindergartens.
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In an interview with TVA Nouvelles, the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, announced that he must postpone until 2029-2030 the achievement of his objective of 2,610 4-year-old kindergarten classes, four years more than planned.
“I can’t say it’s my business, but I think it’s the responsible thing to do,” dropped Education Minister Bernard Drainville.
It was however a flagship commitment of François Legault, who promised in 2018 to set up 4-year-old kindergartens for all children in Quebec.
But four years later, its Minister of Education has been overtaken by reality and he is forced to slow down their deployment, particularly in the Montreal region where fewer premises are available than elsewhere.
Warning signs
Even if François Legault reiterated the firmness of his commitment during the election campaign last fall, it is clear that the pace had already slowed down since 2021, due to the shortage of labor and the lack of spaces.
Thus, since 2018, 1586 classes have been opened. To reach the target of 2,610 in 2025, Quebec would therefore have had to set up more than 1,000 in two years, an unachievable objective, especially since the government has never opened more than 350 in a single year.
Slowing down the development of 4-year-old kindergartens is therefore a “pragmatic” decision, justified by current circumstances, in the eyes of Minister Drainville.
“It’s running out of people and it’s running out of space, I won’t make the world believe I’m going to make it to 2600 in two years […]. Better to tell the truth than to “bullshitter”,” he said.
This year, there are more than 19,000 students attending 4-year-old kindergarten.
director snubbed
This announcement comes just over a month after Bernard Drainville snubbed the director of a school service center in Lac-Saint-Jean who had decided to close half of his four-year-old kindergarten classes to deal with the labor shortage.
The minister then underlined the “inexperience” of the manager, then he apologized on social networks a few days later.
“Do you hear the truck backing up? After rebuffing the director of a school service center who had closed four-year-old kindergarten classes for lack of staff, now the Minister of Education is making the same decision, ”said solidarity MP Ruba Ghazal.
“It took more than four years for the CAQ to realize that four-year-old kindergarten is really not a priority for our network! If Bernard Drainville really wants to avoid bullshiting Quebecers, he should give up four-year-old kindergarten for good,” she added.
Brake on
Already last fall, voices were raised to demand that a brake be given to slow down the deployment of 4-year-old kindergartens, in the context where the school network is struggling to provide a teacher for all primary school children.
Note that 4-year-old kindergarten classes require not only the presence of a teacher, but also a part-time special education technician, which makes the puzzle even more difficult.
For these reasons, the Quebec Federation of Educational Establishment Directors called in October for nothing less than a two-year moratorium on the creation of new 4-year-old kindergarten groups, until the network gets out of the way. water.