Intensive English stirs passions at a Lévis school, so much so that the Center de services scolaire des Navigateurs notified the board, which opposed management’s proposal to no longer offer the program to all 6th graders.
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The fight concerns the program of the École de l’Étoile in the Saint-Nicolas district. For the next school year, the school board has proposed a change that would remove some students from this program.
The Governing Board (CE), made up of parents and staff, instead wanted to keep the Intensive English program as it was and refused to endorse the new curriculum.
This refusal was followed by a warning that shocked the works council chairman, Alexandre Boucher, who submitted his resignation. He wonders what good is such a body when the School Service Center can replace him whenever a decision doesn’t suit him.
lack of teachers
“We are convinced that we were correct in our decision and that the School Services Center was not authorized to make them on our behalf,” argues Caroline Labrecque, Vice President of the CE. In the request, of which Le Journal received a copy, the Center de services scolaire des Navigateurs (CSSDN) justified its decision with a lack of resources.
The program requires 1.5 English teachers. The CSSDN points out that it can only delegate one teacher.
“We assure you that the CSSDN actively continues its recruitment efforts throughout the year, but it is important to note that the shortage is affecting even basic English needs,” we can read.
Unfair
The EK believes that the shortage is wide-ranging and believes it is a refusal by the school service center to grant the resource rather than an availability issue.
Ms Labrecque also points out that the review came too late because parents who wanted to enroll their children in another school so that they could access the intensive English program did not have time to do so.
The European Commission even contacted the Minister of Education, Jean-François Roberge, and asked him to contribute to the file. The letter went unanswered.
The corporation hopes for a turnaround as School of the Star welcomes a new director. “I hope that the dialogue between the CSSDN and the new director will be different,” concludes Ms. Labrecque.
The School Service Center has said it is unable to answer questions from the journal at this time.
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