The role of government is declining in public schools. Foundations and other charities are becoming increasingly important in schools, but not necessarily for the worse.
The Bruny Surin Foundation is celebrating its 20e anniversary. Always accelerating, the philanthropy of the former sprinter wins the schoolyards. From now on, the foundation will renovate gymnasiums and install sports “modules” in the courtyards of primary and secondary schools.
The famous athlete gets involved in fixing up schools that are funded by Quebec because he sees that the state has failed in the task. “I’ve never been the kind of person to wait for someone else,” he says in an interview with The duty. I fulfill this mission where there is not really help for the infrastructures. For example, at Louis-Joseph-Papineau high school, where I studied, everyone complained that there were no windows and that it looked like a prison. It took 40 years for Quebec to move. This is where I really want to go. »
In schools, foundations take care of “everything that surrounds schools, but they do not go to the heart of them”, observes for The duty the director of the Center for Research on Social Innovations, Sylvain A. Lefèvre. “It always stays outside the classroom. If it’s in the classroom, it’s for special needs, like transportation or students with special disabilities.”
We tend to say that public schools are public funding. But in many ways, there is private funding.
He notes that, often, school principals make up for the lack attributable to the government themselves “by setting up their own foundation to finance the repair of the playground or the purchase of books in the classrooms”. Indeed, more than 500 Quebec schools and colleges have registered a foundation in their name with the Canadian government. This number only includes foundations whose name contains the word “school” or “college”.
“We tend to say that public schools are public funding. But in many ways, there is private funding,” confirms the professor from the School of Management Sciences at UQAM, who sees this as a “nibbling” of the role of the state. What is the share of this disguised private financing within our public institutions? “I am convinced that the Ministry of Education itself has no idea what it can represent,” says the expert.
Not just in education
The Grand Défi Pierre Lavoie is another foundation that has established itself as essential support for the government in its public health mission. The promotion of sport in schools thanks to the famous “energy cubes” became after 15 years its new objective, in addition to medical research on orphan diseases – another blind spot of the public system.
“More agile”, “cheaper” and “more efficient” than a ministry, argues Mr. Lavoie in an interview, his team is working on 13 different programs. Almost 2,000 primary schools receive aid each year to buy sports equipment or promote the health of their pupils.
The success of foundations stems from their ability to innovate, he notes. ” [Les fonctionnaires du gouvernement] know that we are agile, flexible and capable of good results. Above all, we have a population influence. We can influence the health of young people. Do you make Doctor Arruda speak on the stage? It can work for COVID-19, but it has limits. A state cannot do this job. »
Private companies funded the foundation’s programs in its early days. Today, Quebec, cities and school boards play this role. “When we are not good, we are kicked out, puts Pierre Lavoie into perspective. It’s in your interest to organize the business in your field, to demonstrate relevance, to gain credibility, and all that goes forward. »
According to the latest available data from Philanthropic Foundations Canada, Canada’s 10,881 private and public charities held nearly $92 billion in assets in 2018, up from $33 billion 10 years earlier.