Almost a year to the day after his appointment as education minister, Bernard Drainville, CAQ MP from Lévis, is time to take stock. Our journalist Alain Laforest met him in a course on Monday afternoon.
“It’s as hard as expected,” he said. In fact, I didn’t expect that we would have to work on so many fronts at the same time.”
A few days before the start of the school year, almost 8,500 teachers were missing. 925 people are still missing, along with around ten school principals.
Class composition still remains a problematic issue in Quebec, while the number of struggling students is only increasing.
“That’s one of the challenges in negotiations. We want to have 15,000 classes with teaching aids. […] We are currently in a pilot project. That’s 200 schools, so a few hundred classes,” explains the minister.
On January 26, 2023, he announced his seven priorities for the education network. Renovating schools, promoting vocational training, improving French teaching, accelerating teacher training…
Good shots and bad shots
“The fast lanes are a good move because they allow us to train new teachers, so I can partially compensate for my deficiency,” he says for his good moves, adding the help to the class.
And his bad maneuvers?
“My clumsy statements,” he comments.
“In an interview I let myself go and then said: Listen, can you really compare the job of a substitute with the job of a teacher? What I meant was that you can’t compare two things that are so different. I could have said: You can’t compare the job of a farmer with that of a police officer. […] “I never wanted to seem condescending or disrespectful to my teachers,” the politician added.
Since his appointment he has met teachers from around fifty schools. He also removed cell phones from classes and maintained toilets for boys and girls.
“Do you think I expected that I would have to deal with the issue of places of worship in schools? It wasn’t on my agenda, but you have to deal with it, it happens.”
Violence in schools
School violence and cyberbullying are on the rise almost everywhere in Quebec; another file that the Minister must follow carefully.
“We will present a plan to combat violence in the coming days. Every school in Quebec already has a plan to combat violence and intimidation, but it is not always the same.
He reveals that part of the “Culture and Citizenship” course is dedicated to social networks.
He says he is “troubled” by videos circulating on social networks showing violent clashes in various schools in Quebec.
“I think part of it has to do with the pandemic. I believe we are reaping. It’s as if civic spirit has taken over sometimes, respect for others, respect for authority.”