Liberal youth urge education overhaul
Proposal on the agenda at Quebec policy convention this weekend
Proud of their tradition of rocking the boat, the youth wing of the Quebec Liberal party is proposing a major overhaul of Quebec’s education system.
And it wants to reopen debate on the contentious issue of forcing teachers into a professional order in the same way doctors and engineers are.
At a news conference called to release details of the issues to be debated at their annual policy convention this weekend, Liberal youth wing president Jonathan Marleau said the education theme will be front and centre because it is what most of the youth wing members want to talk about.
Marleau said many youth feel they are being educated in a system designed for society 50 years ago and it’s time for a shakeup of the curriculum — particularly at the high school level.
“What we want is a global revision of the system,” Marleau said.
“We need to re-examine the model from top to bottom.”
If endorsed by the youth wing plenary on the weekend, the government would be urged to add courses in sex education, the economy, social media, technology, computer programming, plus law and civic issues.
School would be made obligatory until age 18 while offering the flexibility of allowing students to complete their educations from a distance if they had already obtained employment.
High school students would also be allowed to do internships in companies to give them a taste of work in the real world.
Marleau insisted the package should not be seen as a form of criticism of the Liberal government’s education record. In June, Education Minister Sébastien Proulx launched his own overhaul of the system, including the lofty goal of lowering Quebec’s high dropout rate.
Marleau did say, however, that the usual approach to reforming the system amounts to tinkering, adding or dropping a course here and there, instead of wholesale reforms.
The youth wing also wants to debate the idea of creating a professional order for teachers even though Quebec’s powerful unions that represent teachers are firmly opposed to the idea because they see it as a potential erosion of their powers.
“They can say they are against it, but we can reflect on the proposal,” Marleau said. “The idea is not to start a war or to flay the unions.
“Our objective is to make the profession (of teaching) more attractive and important.”
Political parties have kicked around the idea for years, but no government has acted.
After the youth wing leaked the idea to Radio-Canada earlier this week, the Féderation autonome de l’enseignement (FAE) representing teachers trashed the idea again.
Marleau said it’s normal for the unions to want to protect their turf, but their interests are not necessarily the interests of the students. A professional order’s prime mandate is to protect the public, he said.
There are 46 professional orders in Quebec covering the work of 385,000 members.
The Liberal youth convention — which is meeting on the campus of Bishop’s University in Lennoxville Saturday and Sunday — is generally seen as the launch of the political season in Quebec.
The youth wing’s policy positions are not binding on the government, but they often influence decisions.
Premier Philippe Couillard is to address the convention Sunday.