Unions representing Quebec’s teachers and school support staff are raising the alarm over the province’s quality of education and dropout rate.
On Sunday, representatives for the unions said $890 million in cuts to the education system over the past five years has had a deep impact. They pointed to areas such as special educators, psychologists and librarians as being places where the cuts are felt deepest and that children with learning disabilities are especially hard hit.
Quebec’s high school graduation rate stood at 77.7 per cent in 2008, an improvement over 73.4 per cent in 2005.
Leaders invited Education Minister Sebastien Proulx to tour the schools to see for himself what effects the cuts have had.
“They did a lot of budget cuts over the past years and those cuts affected the services for the children, so those things have to stop,” said support staff union VP Communications Melanie Renaud. “We want him to come and see, live a day in the shoes of the people who work in schools, to be part of what we live every day.”
Proulx could not be reached for comment but a spokesperson said the entire education system will be reviewed in public hearings in the fall.
