Drainville asks parents to collaborate
(Quebec) Education Minister Bernard Drainville is "enormously" concerned by the figures revealed Tuesday by La Presse, which revealed that nearly 10% of young people in Quebec were not in school at the beginning of April, an absenteeism rate almost
as high as in the middle of the pandemic.
"I'm very concerned about that. [...] If parents are having a hard time with a child, I encourage them to seek help. In some cases, you have to turn to social services," Drainville said during a media scrum in parliament.
There are many reasons why a student is repeatedly absent from school. Disengagement from schooling, anxiety, but also sometimes trips organized by the family while the school is open.
Since the pandemic, attendance has been a real problem, a teacher at a Montreal elementary school told La Presse. She has seen students come to school only four days a week, or even three.
"It's hell. I have a student who arrived in October," she said, adding that she had already seen a child with severe learning difficulties miss school days to go south with his family.
On this last point, the Minister of Education has sent a message to parents.
When the school is open, the priority must be the school.
Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville
"Once you've called the parents and asked what's going on with your child, at that point, it's up to the parents to ... take over. It's a team effort between the school and parents to make sure our children are as diligent as possible in school," added Mr. Drainville.
The minister then denied that he wanted to "shovel the issue of absenteeism into the parents' backyard". He recalled the initiatives put in place by the government to make schools even more attractive, including investing in anti-bullying, renovating and building schools, but also increasing special educational programs.
"The first educators are the parents. And here, I'm not trying to shovel in the parents' yard, but that's a fact. It's factual. Parents have a very important role to play. The school and the parents need to work together and if the parents
can't do that, I invite them to go and get help," he said.
as high as in the middle of the pandemic.
"I'm very concerned about that. [...] If parents are having a hard time with a child, I encourage them to seek help. In some cases, you have to turn to social services," Drainville said during a media scrum in parliament.
There are many reasons why a student is repeatedly absent from school. Disengagement from schooling, anxiety, but also sometimes trips organized by the family while the school is open.
Since the pandemic, attendance has been a real problem, a teacher at a Montreal elementary school told La Presse. She has seen students come to school only four days a week, or even three.
"It's hell. I have a student who arrived in October," she said, adding that she had already seen a child with severe learning difficulties miss school days to go south with his family.
On this last point, the Minister of Education has sent a message to parents.
When the school is open, the priority must be the school.
Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville
"Once you've called the parents and asked what's going on with your child, at that point, it's up to the parents to ... take over. It's a team effort between the school and parents to make sure our children are as diligent as possible in school," added Mr. Drainville.
The minister then denied that he wanted to "shovel the issue of absenteeism into the parents' backyard". He recalled the initiatives put in place by the government to make schools even more attractive, including investing in anti-bullying, renovating and building schools, but also increasing special educational programs.
"The first educators are the parents. And here, I'm not trying to shovel in the parents' yard, but that's a fact. It's factual. Parents have a very important role to play. The school and the parents need to work together and if the parents
can't do that, I invite them to go and get help," he said.
