After being immersed in almost complete silence since his appointment, Education Minister Bernard Drainville will this week finally unveil the priorities of his mandate, with the key to the preparatory actions “to improve educational success”, particularly in French. His release, eagerly awaited in the school environment, comes during the session of the Caquiste Caucus in preparation for his return to Parliament.
Posted at 5:00 am
On Monday, the minister said he was “concerned [les] declining results” in the written French test for high school students. He was responding to a La Presse report on the rise in failure rates on this unique ministerial test between 2019 and 2022. The results fell in all but six of Quebec’s school service centers. Almost half of young people have failed at some point.
“I am aware of the impact of the pandemic on the success of young people and we are working on this specific problem of the success of French at school,” commented Bernard Drainville on social networks. He declined an interview request – like everyone La Presse had made since he took office in mid-October.
In an interview with Radio-Canada, Jean-François Roberge, head of education between 2018 and 2022, attributed the drop in these scores to the fact that schools were closed for several weeks during the pandemic.
“I think we’ve done our best to mitigate the risks, but unfortunately it’s not very surprising that there has been an impact on learning,” Mr Roberge said, while saying he was “concerned”. “Now you have to go ahead and make the big catch-up. »
gamble
In recent months Secretary Drainville has contented himself with infrequent and brief press rushes to ensure, among other things, that the encrypted ballot was finally there. A quack: He had to apologize to a general manager of a school service center whom he had criticized for “inexperience” in his decision to close 4-year-old kindergarten classes.
We remember his notable appearance on Everyone Speaks About It, where he tiptoed to fellow transporter Geneviève Guilbault, happily commenting on the third link’s nudes.
The school community awaits his leadership. While the minister has multiplied meetings with network actors and visits to schools, he has never opened his game.
Bernard Drainville will finally show his cards this week during the meeting of the CAQ MPs caucus in preparation for the parliamentary session that will begin on January 31st. He will announce his priorities according to the government’s plans at a press conference on Thursday, the first day of this meeting in Laval.
The bet of education
During the election campaign, the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) pledged to “emphasize French education for young people by conducting a review of all French language education programs.” This revision is part of the measures being examined by the Ministère de l’Education at the request of Mr Drainville.
François Legault’s party has also pledged to “encourage young people’s taste in reading” by offering every preschool and elementary school teacher $300 a year to buy books. That move, which would cost about $10 million a year, was to be announced in Girard’s budget, which is expected in March.
In his opening speech to last fall’s parliamentary session, François Legault called on Bernard Drainville to “increase the number of vocational graduates by 30,000” compared to projections during the term, an electoral commitment put at $348 million.
“The other big education project is the renovation of our schools,” he continued. He promised in the campaign to add $2 billion to the $7 billion already planned for this purpose.
However, the Prime Minister acknowledged that Mr Drainville’s “biggest challenge” was “finding enough teachers”. “We have to train more, we miss that. And then of course we can’t fix it overnight. To become a teacher you need four years of university education. So we have work to do. You have to be creative to get there quickly. The same goes for professionals,” he said. This topic will inevitably be on the Minister’s roadmap.
Other anticipated actions include the creation of a virtual platform to offer more professional services to students with learning disabilities. Network retirees and part-time professionals would be encouraged to participate in this initiative.
The CAQ also intends to replace the various digital portals of the schools and set up public and private “click-école” everywhere. This portal would bring together all the information about the child’s school history and would be a tool for parents to communicate with the school (to report an absence or to pay fees).
reactions
“It is nevertheless an example that the fate of French, the future of our common language, is not just a debate about immigration. François Legault seems to think that the only challenge facing the French is immigration […]. You have to put your eyes in front of the holes: The pandemic has done damage to the motivation and mental health of students. We have to deal with these issues. – The parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois
“The CAQ must prioritize the quality of French. Appropriate remedial action must be taken. We proposed to start a major project to improve the French language skills. – MP Pascal Bérubé, Spokesman for Education of the Parti Québécois
With Fanny Levesque, La Presse