The Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, came to the defense of Quebec’s public education system on Monday, whose “foundations” are “sound,” he assured. The fact remains that the three-tier school and the funding granted by the State to private schools continue to raise criticism, as the 15th began this morning.e Public school week.
It was within the framework of this thematic week, organized by the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE), that the minister traveled to Montreal to praise the progress made in recent decades by the school network. public of the province, of which he is “extremely proud”.
“I see daily – and the media remind me very well – that we have very big challenges in education, but we also have very good reasons to celebrate education. On a daily basis, magnificent things happen in our schools and I think we must, collectively, celebrate these achievements,” declared Mr. Drainville at a press conference.
The minister noted in particular that Quebec students ranked seventh in the latest report from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), just behind South Korea, as well as in thirteenth position for their performance in reading and twelfth place in science.
Mr. Drainville, however, recognized that all is not rosy in our public schools, many of which lack maintenance, face challenges in ventilation, sanitation and funding of key services for students, among other things.
“The challenges are there, but the foundations of our school system are sound. We must continue to invest. We must continue to repair, renovate and straighten out, but the foundations are sound,” insisted the minister.
The three-speed school
However, these are precisely the very roots of the three-speed education network – which includes public schools offering ordinary programs, those offering selective programs with profile and private schools – which has been associated for a long time by several players in the environment as one of the issues at the source of the problems experienced by the network. A concern which was raised again on Monday.
“For the FAE, it is clear: public funding of private schools is currently harming us. He directs students to the private sector and this has created a competition which is not interesting for public schools”, which must therefore “compete with tricks to keep their students”, noted the president of the FAE on Monday. , Mélanie Hubert.
According to her, the current model harms a well-distributed “social mix” in all schools in the province, which disadvantages both students and teachers in the public network, who suffer from an increased workload.
“I couldn’t tell you that the gap is widening [entre la qualité des services offerts dans les écoles publiques et privées]but definitely, we would benefit from having more diversity in our schools,” she continued.
Present at this press conference, the spokesperson for Québec solidaire in terms of education, Ruba Ghazal, of Palestinian origin, for her part stressed that her parents had not hesitated for a second to enroll her in a school public when they settled in the province in the 1980s. She was 10 years old then.
“I ask myself the question today: if my parents had arrived today, in 2024, would they have made the same choice? » launched the supportive MP. She then called on “all political parties” and stakeholders in the education sector to “collaborate” so that public school is, for parents, “the obvious choice” to make.
Called to react on the sidelines of this press briefing, Bernard Drainville recalled that the education budget has increased by 50% over the last six years. Thus, more funds are being invested in the maintenance and construction of new schools, while thousands of classroom assistants are deployed to support teachers in schools in the province, he stressed.
“We are investing like never before in public schools,” argued the minister, who however opposed the idea of abolishing the province’s private schools to integrate them into the public network.