On January 9, Education Minister Bernard Drainville will present a catch-up plan for students who have missed many days of school due to public sector strikes.
The meetings took place one after the other throughout the holiday period, in the last few days and today, Minister Drainville assured on Thursday. They took place with ministerial teams, representatives of school service centers, school principals, parent committees, trade unions, etc.
We are currently finalizing the plan. “I will present it on January 9th,” he confirmed.
The education sector was particularly affected by the days-long strikes that took place as part of negotiations between the Ministry of Finance and public sector unions in Quebec to renew their collective agreements.
Great inequalities between students
More than 40% of Quebec students, or half a million young people, have been excluded from school since November 23 due to the indefinite general strike of 66,500 primary and secondary school teachers affiliated to the Autonomous Pedagogical Federation (FAE). This association brings together the school service centers of Montreal, Marguerite-Bourgeoys, Pointe-de-l'Île and Laval exclusively in the Greater Montreal area.
The students of these schools experienced more than 20 days of strikes. Those whose teachers are members of the Inter-Union Common Front, which brings together CSN, CSQ, APTS and FTQ, have missed around ten days of classes and students from private schools have not missed anything from their school career. with the exception of one school in Montreal.
The Regroupement des Committees de Parents Nationaux du Québec (RCPAQ) welcomes with great relief the return to classes in early January.
“There is hope that we can mitigate the impact of the strike at this time, although that impact has already left a mark for the rest of the school year,” said Sylvain Martel, spokesman for the RCPAQ, when an agreement in principle was reached in late December between Quebec and the FAE announced.
Everyone must help – parents, teachers, administrators and service centers – so that we can get our children to the end of the school year and mitigate these impacts as much as possible, he added.