Quebec students to get digital files
All Quebec schoolchildren, from pre-school to high school will soon be assigned a personalized digital file that will follow them throughout their school career, in the hope of ensuring a better transition between daycare and school and between elementary and secondary school.
The idea for such a file was originally put forward over a year ago by Education Minister Sébastien Proulx and is one of several measures in the ‘0-8 Strategy’, which was unveiled Tuesday at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Quebec City. The planned cost the province a total of $1.4 billion by 2022.
Last year, Proulx argued that there were too many “gaps” in the educational history of children in Quebec and that he wanted to create a standard digital file, similar to the health record that follows each patient.
A child attending a childcare center (CPE) or a subsidized daycare center will have information about their development gathered in a file by educators. Upon reaching the age of five, the file will be given to parents, who can then provide it to the school of their choice.
From kindergarten, another file will be created based on that from early childhood. It will be digital and be managed by schools that are part of the public system. It will contain information about the student's strengths, difficulties and peculiarities. It will not be a report card, however, says the Ministry of Education.
Currently, parents who are moving or changing their child’s school must provide information about their child's journey to the new school verbally. The digital file will help the transition and will follow the child during transition to secondary school.
In addition to digitizing a personal file, the 0-8 strategy also includes providing free breakfasts to students from 725 underprivileged schools, in collaboration with the Breakfast Club, which is currently present in around 300 schools. Eye exams will also be provided to kindergarten students at four or fiveyears-old, because at present only 20 per cent of parents have their children's eyes examined before they begin school. These examinations already covered by health insurance.
The strategy also proposes a family literacy program in public libraries and a reading literacy program to be rolled out in school libraries
The development of 4-year-old kindergarten classes will continue in some disadvantaged areas, but details about the number and location will be decided in the coming year.