A union believes that Quebec teachers are not ready to teach the Culture and Quebec Citizenship (CCQ) course, which should be on the program starting next school year to replace the Ethics and Religious Culture (ECR) course.
According to the Federation of Education Unions (FSE-CSQ), just under half (45%) of the teachers who will have to teach the CCQ course from August have undergone training for this. The teaching union on Monday announced the results of a survey it conducted from April 30 to May 6 among 2,675 people teaching ECR or CCQ courses.
The vast majority of teachers surveyed (81%) believe “that they are not sufficiently trained and equipped to teach the program in just a few months,” the FSE laments. Of respondents, 68% assessed that they “do not have the material or technical resources necessary to teach the program.” The union also indicates that there is “no training for teaching staff in special education.”
The FSE points the finger at school service centers that in certain cases do not offer training or cancel it due to a shortage of substitutes.
At the time these lines were written, Education Minister Bernard Drainville’s office could not confirm the accessibility of training in all CSSs in Quebec.
” It is going to be okay “
However, the minister emphasized that the training is always accessible online. In the press conference he gave figures showing that approximately 11,000 teachers had completed this training. There are more than 100,000 teachers in Quebec, but not all of them will be called upon to teach the Quebec Culture and Citizenship course.
“We are confident that everything will go well,” Mr Drainville said. He recalled that the addition of the course to the timetable – replacing the ECR course – had already been postponed for a year, “at the request of the trade unions in particular”.
Trade union groups sounded the alarm at the time, in a context where the teaching materials were not yet ready. A year later, the textbooks are not yet available, but the Drainville company says it hopes to distribute them via the network to all school levels (with the exception of the fourth and fifth grades of secondary school) next school year. “There are no teaching materials approved by the ministry. It should happen at the end of August, but it is really too late,” the FSE emphasized on this topic.
For his part, Minister Drainville said: “we accept the fact that a teacher starting a new course does not feel 100% equipped.” “It’s normal,” he emphasized.
The elected official added that the CCQ course was “very important” because it will focus on “very contemporary issues” such as respect, consent, social networking, sex education, citizenship, secularism and managing emotions. “All these issues are important and that is why this course must move forward, even if adjustments are made over time,” he argued.