University budget cuts hamper teacher training
Over the past 12 months, Quebec has been subjected to a deep social crisis in which students have taken centre stage to denounce our university system and, more specifically, to protest against the projected increase in university tuition fees.
The conflict stems from a perceived or potential threat to access to education for all, which has been a guiding principle of Quebec higher education since it was set down 50 years ago in the Parent report.
Beyond the debates and number-crunching exercises to define the appropriate dollar cost of tuition fees, there is a consensus that education remains a fundamental societal value for the growth and development of Quebec.
However, the data for Quebec high school graduation rates indicate that there is still a long way to go for Quebec society to reach its education potential.
In 2009-10, only 67.8 per cent of boys and 80.1 per cent of girls successfully completed high school; although some improvement has been seen over the past few years, much attention is still needed to address the escalating high- school-dropout problem.
The budget cuts recently imposed by the government on Quebec universities acutely affect the universities’ faculties of education — and the consequences will necessarily have a negative effect not only on the number of teachers we can contribute to society, but also on the quality of the programs we are able to offer.
In a society such as ours where education is recognized as fundamental to sustainable economic and social development, actions jeopardizing the advancement of knowledge, and its transfer to all levels of society, cannot be tolerated. Quebec society cannot afford to jeopardize the educational success of future generations for the sake of a budget-book exercise. As researchers, educators, administrators, parents and citizens of Quebec, the responsibility is ours to ensure that there is no compromise on the quality of education.
Our education faculties are also responsible for the education of early-childhood-education specialists, and of educational and counselling psychologists, school counsellors, adult-ed specialists and vocational-education specialists, as well as supporting researchers in the various disciplines.
Our Quebec model of teacher preparation, which integrates disciplinary knowledge and practice over a four-year progression, is unique in Canada and across North America. It is widely praised for the quality of the teachers it produces.
Our education faculties are deeply committed to optimizing educational success for all children and thus play an important role in shaping the Quebec of tomorrow. Only short-sightedness would lead a society to bite the hand that feeds it. As deans and directors of Quebec’s faculties of education, we believe the current situation with respect to education in Quebec to be clearly unacceptable.