Not a 'holiday:' Quebec education minister wants students to keep learning during strike

Education Minister Bernard Drainville is warning that the upcoming strike in many Quebec schools should not be seen by students as a "break" or a "holiday."

At a press scrum in Quebec City on Thursday, Drainville called on schools to provide children with what they need to continue their learning "just a little."

"I hope that school principals, school service centres and teachers will actually give the children materials so that they can continue," he said. "It must not become a holiday, a spring break. Ideally, it shouldn't."

Teachers' unions were quick to react. According to them, teachers do not have to do more to prepare children for strike days.

"We're trying to make people who have been fighting for students for years feel guilty," said Josée Scalabrini, president of the Fédération des syndicats de l'enseignement (FSE), in an interview.

Teachers who are used to submitting a work plan at the beginning of the week will be able to do so next Monday, she added.

But essentially, "it will be up to families to decide what they do during these strike periods," according to Scalabrini.

"Obviously, the strike is going to penalize people; that's the very principle of a strike," Fédération autonome de l'enseignement (FAE) president Mélanie Hubert pointed out. "If it has no effect on anyone, it is totally useless."

The inter-union Common Front, which represents teachers and support staff in particular, has announced a walkout from Nov. 21-23.

Next Thursday, if there is no agreement, the 65,000 members of the FAE will call an unlimited general strike.

SCHOOL DAYS RESUMED?

In addition, Drainville is not ruling out the possibility of extending the school calendar in order to resume school days missed as a result of the strike.

"The law prescribes 180 days of educational services and 20 pedagogical days. (...) I would say that this will depend very much on the duration of the strikes," he said.

He indicated that the decision had not yet been taken by the government, which is still hopeful of reaching a negotiated agreement with the unions.

$19.2 MILLION FOR LAVAL UNIVERSITE

Drainville made these comments on Thursday during an announcement at Laval Université.

The government is allocating $19.2 million to the university to build a new pavilion dedicated to educational sciences. Work is scheduled to start in 2026, with completion two years later.

The new building will accommodate an additional 175 students in teaching, psycho-education, guidance, sports intervention and school administration.

The Minister of Education said he hoped to attract and train more teachers. Of the 5,000 students who enrol each year in education, only 3,000 make it to the end of their course, he said.

"I am convinced that this pavilion (...) is precisely the kind of highly stimulating, highly rewarding environment that I believe will give us, and Université Laval, the means to retain more of them," he said. "It's going to be a very modern pavilion, using the latest technologies, which will also be very well adapted to the new school environments."

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 16, 2023.