![[Éditorial de Brian Myles] Education under pressure](https://media1.ledevoir.com/documents/image/collaborateurs/large/brian-myles.jpg "[Éditorial de Brian Myles] Education under pressure")
Quebec Auditor General Guylaine Leclerc confirmed what many parents already suspected. Distance education in times of pandemic has caused immense damage to students with learning disabilities and the Ministry of Education has failed to implement this emergency measure.
The result suggests the outbreak of a silent epidemic, i.e. the accumulation of learning delays and the emergence of a sacrificed generation that will be tossed down the cul-de-sac of failure and abandonment with all the slurs on self-esteem and growth staff that we can predict.
In your further comments In the Auditor General’s report, Sustainable Development Commissioner Janique Lambert insists on the long-term benefits of successful education for students and society. Success not only guarantees a diploma or a job, but also personal fulfillment and a higher standard and quality of life.
Let us therefore produce, in torpor, the left behind of tomorrow.
Before giving birth in March 2020, nearly a quarter of all students in Quebec had already been diagnosed with a disability, adjustment difficulty or learning disability. This is huge, and resources were already not up to the needs of families and students pressed by the limitations of the school environment.
Once the health emergency is over, the Quebec Ministry of Education (MEQ) does not have studies that allow it to have a global view of the scale of the challenges, notes the auditor general. How can you imagine that he will be able to implement the corrective measures that will become necessary?
However, the MEQ has not skimped on special measures and spending during the pandemic, an exceptional situation if ever there was one. Quebec can boast of being one of the countries that has least closed schools. However, many decisions were made without hard data, such as creating an $88 million mentorship program or investing $42 million in little-used video conferencing equipment.
The Auditor General’s report paints a picture of an ailing school department and service centers that have an urgent appointment with the use of evidence and its dissemination to support decision making. Québec’s future success depends on it, individually and collectively.
