The education minister, Bernard Drainville, refuses to say whether he will go ahead with an electoral promise from the Coalition avenir Québec which provides for an “in-depth” review of French programs, in order to enhance teaching at school.
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The Journal reported Sunday that more than half of college students say they need help writing without fail, according to a large survey of thousands of young people. This finding is not surprising for teachers who regularly find mistakes in their students’ homework that should no longer be made by the end of primary school.
Invited to comment on the situation, the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, and the Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, on Monday declined our requests for an interview on this matter, contenting themselves with indicating that they are working to implement measures to preserve the quality and mastery of French.
“We will not compromise on this. We are aware that the pandemic has had an impact on our young students,” reads a joint statement from their cabinet.
Review French programs
The Education Minister’s office also declines to confirm whether Drainville will proceed with the revision of French-taught programs, as outlined in the Coalition avenir Québec’s electoral platform.
“In a second term, a CAQ government intends to emphasize the teaching of French to young people. Indeed, we must undertake a thorough review of all French teaching programs ”, it reads.
However, this commitment was not announced during the election campaign, which “doesn’t mean that we are not working on this specific issue,” said Florence Plourde, Minister Drainville’s press secretary.
The latter, however, declined to confirm whether a review of the plans would actually be launched, saying it was too early to comment further.
For its part, the Parti Québécois urges the Minister of Higher Education to implement an action plan to improve the quality of French in CEGEP.
The teaching of French begins in primary school and continues in high school, but we must not “abandon” students once they go to CEGEP, says MEP Pascal Bérubé, who calls for more support for CEGEP students.
Former Higher Education Minister Danielle McCann created a group of experts last year with a mandate to find solutions to improve French proficiency at CEGEP and universities, but her report has not yet been made public .
At the Fédération des cégeps we reiterate how important mastery of French is in your university career. “We know that the first criterion for success is language,” says its president and chief executive officer, Bernard Tremblay.
CEGEPs would benefit from the digital switchover, as the students are asking, since young people no longer use pencil and paper in everyday life, he says.
Using proofing software like Antidote could become a “learning opportunity” rather than a “crutch,” adds Mr. Tremblay.
The difficulties of CEGEP students in mastering the language of Molière are also reflected in an increase in enrollments in French refresher courses in CEGEP, which rose from 13,750 in 2020-2021 to 14,300 last year according to the most recent data from the Ministry of Higher Education.
In many colleges, these courses are required for students who have completed high school with an average of 70% or less in French.
