Australian experts prefer to take inspiration from Ontario rather than Quebec, which is said to have an education system almost as dysfunctional as theirs.<\/p>\n
This is the conclusion of a new report entitled \u201cLessons from Canada: An Egalitarian Education System is Possible,\u201d written by researchers Tom Greenwell and Chris Bonnor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The two men were part of an Australian delegation that spent 10 days in Canada in October 2024 to learn more about its different education systems.<\/p>\n
They found the Ontario model more than inspiring, with its free public schools, where there is no selection, and its private network not subsidized by the state.<\/p>\n
In contrast, Quebec\u2019s \u201cthree-tier\u201d system (regular public, selective public and private) quickly emerged as the example not to follow, Greenwell explained in a telephone interview from Canberra.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were marked by Quebec, because all our problems were reflected back to us,\u201d he said, stressing that he recognized the same skimming and the same \u201csegregation\u201d as in Australia.<\/p>\n
The concentration of students from disadvantaged backgrounds or with learning difficulties in mainstream classes can cause real harm, he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Quebec system is failing a large number of young people,\u201d we read on page 78 of his report.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are issuing a friendly warning to Quebec,\u201d he said in an interview: segregation harms teachers and children, who achieve lower results than if they were in more diverse classes.<\/p>\n
The School Together Congratulated<\/p>\n
The only light on the horizon for Quebec, according to Greenwell, is the \u201cdetailed and sophisticated\u201d proposal from the citizen movement L\u2019\u00c9cole ensemble, which he cites extensively in his report.<\/p>\n
Last February, Qu\u00e9bec solidaire presented the plan designed by L\u2019\u00c9cole ensemble to the National Assembly in the form of a bill.<\/p>\n
It aims to ensure that public and private schools in Quebec are part of a common network, which would be free and accessible to all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The goal is for all children to have access to quality education, regardless of their academic performance or their parents\u2019 income.<\/p>\n
Bill 895 proposes to bring together public schools and private schools that agree to stop selection based on grades in particular, within a common network.<\/p>\n
Private schools that choose not to join this network would see their public funding cut.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the legislation proposes to make special projects accessible to all students and to prohibit any student selection process.<\/p>\n
It provides the same conditions of free education and financing for all schools in the joint network.<\/p>\n
\u00c9cole ensemble calculates that the creation of a common network would ultimately generate annual savings of $100 million.<\/p>\n
Asked to react to the release of the report, the coordinator of \u00c9cole ensemble, St\u00e9phane Vigneault, said he was proud that his solutions had been accepted by the group of Australian researchers.<\/p>\n
He said he hoped the document would circulate and get things moving.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re approaching an election year,\u201d he emphasized in an interview. \u201cWe have a solution that\u2019s pragmatic and innovative. Our goal is really to make sure it\u2019s reflected in political platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n
An incomplete portrait, deplores the FEEP<\/p>\n
For its part, the Federation of Private Educational Establishments (FEEP) regrets not having been met by the Australian delegation.<\/p>\n
In an interview, its president, David Bowles, disputed the report\u2019s conclusions and believed that the strength of the Quebec system lies in the fact that parents have the choice of their child\u2019s school.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have already attended conferences where people from all over the world came to see what we were doing well in Quebec, because our students do very well in international tests,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is in Quebec that we have the smallest gap between students who have the best results and those who have the most difficulty,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Bowles also argues that private schools now accept 20 per cent of students with learning difficulties, compared to only 5 per cent \u00a0a few years ago.<\/p>\n
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