Report by the Québec Ombudsman | Children do not always have services based on their needs

(Québec) Même si la Loi sur l’instruction publique prévoit que les élèves en difficulté d’adaptation ou d’apprentissage ont droit à des services éducatifs complémentaires, le Protecteur du citoyen, Marc-André Dowd, dénonce que des enfants « attendent leur tour » et que des services offerts ne sont « pas toujours basés sur [leurs] real needs”.

Hugo Pilon Larose
The Press

Mr. Dowd tabled his report in Quebec City on Monday, entitled The student first, in which it makes 11 recommendations to the government following an investigation into the offer, organization and funding of complementary educational services for elementary students. “In Quebec, nearly one in five students attending public elementary school needs [ces services] recalls the Québec Ombudsman, who suggests that the Ministère de l’Éducation “review and base the funding of services on the real needs of students”.

“While they ‘wait their turn’ for services to which the law entitles them, these students in difficulty do not make the expected progress and their delays persist, hampering their academic career and their personal and social development,” said Mr. Dowd.

In his report, he denounces that “services are often established based on funding and not on the real needs of students, [que] the specialized staff present in the schools is not sufficient to meet the needs of all pupils [et que] some students wait a long time before being offered services, [alors que d’]others receive it, but from personnel who do not always have the most relevant training”.

A “failure to respect the rights” of students

The Québec Ombudsman points out that complementary educational services, such as those for remedial education, psychoeducation, speech therapy, special education or psychology, make it possible to integrate children with adjustment or learning difficulties into regular classes. ‘learning. However, there is “a lack of alignment between the real needs of students and the resources to meet them, as well as a significant risk of non-respect of students’ rights to the complementary educational services they need”.

Mr. Dowd denounces that “The supply of services is limited, among other things, by the funding available: often, services are offered ‘according to what is possible’ rather than ‘according to what is necessary’”.

“For some students, the delays are long to access the required services, while for others, the services are not offered by a member of the employment body best able to offer them,” he laments. .

The Québec Ombudsman recommends that Quebec “promote positions in complementary educational services and follow up on positions to be filled, develop, for teaching staff, the offer of continuing education relating to the needs of students [ayant des besoins particuliers] and review the funding model for complementary educational services [pour] establish and fund a province-wide minimum threshold of services”.