Montreal, August 29, 2017 – With the province’s students about to begin, or already starting their new school year, the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) extends best wishes to all students, teachers, administrators, school staff and parents for a successful 2017/2018 year in education. Welcome back!
Back to school is a great time to reflect upon the highlights of the nine Quebec English School Boards, as we clearly focus on continuing to deliver the best possible education for our 100,000 youth and adult students. Once again, we have registered success rates well above the Quebec provincial average, and our top ranking illustrates our innovation and commitment to perseverance, education, and our communities.
- Our graduation rates are at an all-time high, reaching 86 percent in the 2016/2017 school year.
- Our integration of special needs students stands at an impressive 94 percent and continues to climb.
- We have the lowest operating cost of any level of government, averaging 4 percent, and our goal is to maintain this level of efficiency.
- We have some of the most innovative technological programs, and offer English education and a bilingual future for our students.
Student achievement, changing technology, and the increasing demand for specialized programming will keep our school boards, and the QESBA, very busy this year.
As well, the Minister of Education recently launched a new Educational Success Policy, which means school boards across the province will be establishing strategic plans adapted to the new vision and path to ensure student success into the year 2030. Resulting from a province-wide consultation of many stakeholder groups that began last fall, it is clear many initiatives are inspired from our English system. We’re proud to say that our boards are on the right path as the new policy orientations are already our focus.
School Board Councils are the only level of government whose members are elected with the specific mandate to represent the English-eligible community in one of the most important obligations of all government services – educating our students. The QESBA will continue to work with the Ministry to ensure our rights are protected, and our community respected. And I’m confident, because I’ve seen the power of our collective voice that our students will continue to be the focus of our dialogue. The QESBA’s role, as always, is to ensure the vitality of our voice in matters of English public education in Quebec.
So once again, welcome back and best wishes to all for the 2017-2018 school year!
QESBA is the voice of English public education in Quebec representing 100,000 students, in youth, adult and vocational sectors.