Montreal, November 29, 2018 – The Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) is very surprised to hear that Jean-François Roberge is consulting the English community on the abolition of school boards.
In an interview this morning with Paul Arcand of 98.5 FM the Minster of Education declared having had “reassuring” discussions with the English community on the abolition of school boards in favour of “service centres”.
“The QESBA recently hosted a large number of English-speaking educational stakeholders and community groups. Not one of these groups has been consulted nor are they in favour of abolishing school boards. We are dumbfounded that this Minister would declare that we are collectively in favour of abolishing the only institutions that belong to our community,” said QESBA President Dan Lamoureux.
The QESBA extended an invitation to the Minister to address delegates this coming weekend during a Professional Development Session, where democratically elected commissioners and representatives from community groups will be in attendance. He is the first Minister of Education to decline the invitation to this event that we hold every fall. Despite a request made a month ago, we are also disappointed that the Minister has not yet had time to meet with the QESBA.
“The suggestion by the Minister that he is able to reassure unnamed people or groups in the English-speaking community when he hasn’t yet met with major stakeholders is profoundly disturbing. Our English-speaking minority community deserves better,” concluded the President.
QESBA is the voice of English public education in Québec and represents 100,000 students in 340 elementary, high schools, and adult and vocational centres across Québec.