Posted yesterday at 12:00 p.m.
The gap is widening between public and private secondary schools, as well as between special-purpose and regular programs. Like Karine Dubois, creator and producer of the podcast Each his own class, of parents are at a loss when it comes time to “shop around” for a secondary school for their child.
They come up against a three-tier system and they feel a clash between the egalitarian values they defend as citizens and the best they want for their child.
“At friends’ dinners, I talk to parents who are stressed and anxious. They feel like they are playing the life of their child. Some are also angry because they went to public school and they find that what they went through is no longer the reality. »
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Karine Dubois
great injustice
In her podcast, Karine Dubois, who also provides narration, denounces “school segregation”. “It sucks to say, but there is a great injustice. Children do not have an equal chance of success. »
In the first episode, she explains how so-called regular classes are becoming increasingly rare to the public. Following a regular schedule is now part of the exception. “Regular is really the last choice,” laments Karine Dubois, a professional producer.
In Sherbrooke, for example, 60% of high school students are not in regular classes, she tells us. And only 15% of regular students will go to university, according to a 2019 study by Pierre Canisius Kamanzy, professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Montreal.
Besides the famous IEP (International Education Program), many public schools compete with private colleges by offering specialized programs in art, outdoors, drama, science, and more.
What is the point of specializing at 12? It’s a lot to ask children to make a choice.
Karine Dubois
And that’s a lot of anxiety, disappointment and pressure for young people who are asked to prepare auditions or three-minute multimedia works to be admitted into a program.
Karine Dubois has a 9 year old son. “After doing my [émission balado], I know that we can ask him for his fourth year marks for certain programs, whereas I always told him that the important thing was to do your best. »
Why not stay in his neighborhood?
Karine Dubois grew up in Sherbrooke. For her and friends in her neighborhood, there was no school shopping. It was obvious that the jump to high school was going to be done at the local high school. In the Montreal neighborhood of Villeray where she is now raising her family, this is not the case.
In the second episode, Karine Dubois visits the high school Georges-Vanier, where her son would go. She is altogether delighted with her visit, which breaks down many prejudices she had towards this public establishment.
Karine Dubois also follows a trio of inseparable friends from elementary school in their race for high school admissions. One will go to the private school of her choice, because she has passed all the admission exams. The other wanted to go to Collège Ville-Marie, but she was not accepted after the so-called “stress-free” admission workshops. Finally, the last did not pass her audition for the drama program at the Robert-Gravel school.
Karine Dubois also met a teenager who attends a private school in secondary one and who is having difficulty. “He just got bad grades and he’s not bothering anyone, but his whole year he’s been on eject. »
I had a big teenage crisis. If I had gone to private, it is certain that I would have been squealed at the door. You have to think about what school is. Do you want children to learn as much as possible? That they are good citizens?
Karine Dubois
In her podcast, Karine Dubois tells us that 97% of high school students in Ontario attend a public institution, compared to 79% in Quebec. She talks to Carole Beaulieu, who was editor-in-chief of News when the magazine launched its famous school rankings. She also gives the microphone to parents who are fighting for equal opportunities in education, including Stéphane Vigneault, from the École ensemble movement.
It is a happy coincidence that Each his own class out in the midst of an election campaign. “Have you heard of education since the start of the campaign? Zero ! », Laments Karine Dubois.
Each his own class is on OHdio.