When I was little, I thought that in Quebec, we had access to a good education, that all children benefited from the same services, the same opportunities. Today, at 17, it is with my eyes wide open that I recognize my disillusionment. No need to see the figures or analyze the analyzes to become aware of the failures of the education system. I have been seeing them for 12 years, experiencing them on a daily basis, and analyzing their repercussions.
Already, in elementary school, I was in a school where segregation was such that students in a special paid program wore uniforms, while those in the regular program did not. A division that extended well beyond class. In the playground, we separated, we obediently respected the group assigned to us.
In secondary school the same pattern happened again, this time without uniform.
But my observation remains the same, which is that I, in the PEI (Intermediate Education Program), and my friends, in the regular program, are not equal and are not treated in the same way. We will certainly not finish high school having had the same experience or with the same pride, both academically and socially.
I understand that for the current education system, students have become a strategic placement. Our policies ensure that we invest in each student at the height of the social status that we want them to one day achieve in society.
The processes of selection and skimming, which separate students, profoundly shape our society by considerably reducing equality of opportunity. These are documented, but despite this, these processes are improved year after year. We can therefore think that they are partly intended and calculated.
In recent years, we have allowed regular public programming to wither away, for the benefit of others. However, 60% of adolescents follow it. Regular students learn classic French, English, math… but without any enrichment classes or field trips linked to their interests and theories of knowledge.
These “enrichments” to which regulars do not have access are what make those who benefit from them want to continue their studies. This is what opens us to the world, teaches us how to be an actor and not a pawn.
The deteriorating public school system reduces the range of career choices for regular graduates. Unfortunately, the system is organized so that regular students become docile employees. Only 15% of them will go to university. In comparison, 60% of adolescents studying privately have access. The advantage is obvious.
Some people think that students who choose regular have less interest in school. For my part, I think that the disinterest is, for the most part, induced.
I was talking about it with a friend recently, and he told me the following: “The difference that I notice the most, between us on the regular and you on the PEI, is that no one believes in our motivation. and in our academic performance. They assume that we don’t like school, but I love school, I love learning. »
Meanwhile, our hopes for quality public education are placed in private programs. The students receive a much better education there than those in the regular school. The fact remains that they pile up in the same schools where there is as much lack of toilets as support staff, where the teachers are burned out, to the point of telling their class: “The strike is going to be difficult, but we’re going to try.” to take advantage of it to heal [de l’épuisement] of recent years. » Also burned at being a priority only in electoral promises…
So, in these conditions, who can judge families who have the financial means to offer their children a better education by turning to the private sector?
But is it really a private sector when, in fact, it is mainly the government, and therefore us, the taxpayers, who offer it to them — by paying 63% to 75% of private sector tuition fees?
I ask the question again. Under these conditions, who can blame us for fighting for a fairer public education system, where three-tier schools and massive private funding would not separate students from childhood based on socioeconomic conditions? of their parents?
I understand that reforming the education system is a very complex process, but it is not by having a government that denies the very existence of the three-tier school that we will find solutions. We must look seriously at these issues, because it is education that shapes our societies. As long as our education system is unequal and failing, our society will be too.
Education for all, which alleviates existing inequalities rather than exacerbating them, is essential for a just society. Without an education where young people from all social classes mix and evolve together, we cannot hope for better for our future.
This is not only good for equal opportunities and working conditions for teachers. The groups with the most diversity in which I have been during my school career are also those with which I have had the most fun, where students participated the most in class, etc. We must now claim our rights to this education and to the society it allows.
Many groups are trying to make this dream a tangible reality. School Together, for example, has been working since 2017 on a proposal to reform the education system. A colossal job that he carried out with brilliance and expertise. I strongly invite you to read his proposed action plan and sign his petition, easily accessible on his website.
Stay informed about existing possibilities and when you have the opportunity, remind loud and clear that we have other options, that the current system is not inevitable. Let’s engage in intelligent discussions, find other possibilities, impose our solutions.