Quebec Ombudsman recommends review of complaints process in the education system
Student Ombudsmen have been in place in the 70 school boards across Quebec since 2010 following amendments made to the Education Act to establish recourse for parents and students wishing to express their dissatisfaction with the education system.
Even so, the Quebec Ombudsman receives around 200 complaints each year about school boards or their institutions, prompting an evaluation of the procedure currently in place.
A report was released yesterday by the Quebec Ombudsman reviewing the role of Student Ombudsmen, offering 19 recommendations to make recourse with a Student Ombudsman more simple and efficient and more effective and impartial.
A summary of the report listed several recommendations related to intake and procedure.
“It is worth pointing out that the complaint examination procedure consists of a series of steps and players, four and sometimes five, before complainants gain access to the Student Ombudsman. This trajectory, as well as the long delays at each of these steps, makes the process unwieldy and has a dissuasive effect on complainants,” the report said.
“Because the Student Ombudsman acts late in the process, intervention
generally occurs after repeated refusals, intractable positions and solutions that are more difficult to consider.”
Visibility and independence were the focus of other recommendations.
“To be effective, accessible and credible, the complaint examination mechanism and the Student Ombudsman must be known by students and parents, which is not the case right now.” The report went on to say that Student Ombudsmen are perceived as an extension of the school board. “The independence of the Student Ombudsman must be established more clearly,” the report recommended.
The report also noted that Student Ombudsmen were not working with a consistent definition of admissible complaints and powers related to their mandate.
“Some reject all complaints concerning labour relations, teacher competency or staff attitude. Others turn down complaints when they feel they cannot make a recommendation.”
Shortcomings were pointed out in training for Student Ombudsmen, suggesting professional development be made available as well as a network of resources or advisors with whom Ombudsmen could confer as needed.
Follow-up was another weak area looked at in the report. The council of commissioners receives the opinion of the Ombudsman and then makes a decision as to the follow-up.
“Currently, Student Ombudsmen are hard pressed to obtain information enabling them to verify whether their recommendations have indeed been implemented, and if so, how.”
Christian Beaudry, the Student Ombudsman for the Eastern Townships School Board (ETSB), presented his annual report to the council of commissioners in September.
According to Beaudry, 13 complaints were made; 12 from parents of students in the ETSB and one from an adult student.
Beaudry immediately re-directed 10 of the 13 complaints back to the board because the complainants had not followed the proper procedure.
The only complaint investigated related to a deaf student whose parents were unsatisfied with the services available to their child. Beaudry explained that the student was withdrawn and moved to another school board before he could render an opinion on the situation.