Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press “Going to school means really going to school. Paying for “time at home” with our taxes is ridiculous and not instructive,” wrote liberal MP Marwah Rizqy on the social network X in reaction to a text in “Devoir” published Friday.
The Montreal School Services Center (CSSDM) should reimburse the training hours financed by the Ministry of Education and which it has transformed into “hours at home”, Liberal MP Marwah Rizqy demanded on Friday .
“It’s the administration that collects the cash. And that’s a problem,” also declared the president of the Federation of Health and Social Services (FSSS-CSN), Réjean Leclerc.
Le Devoirrevealed Friday that the accelerated programs to be a patient attendant or practical nurse given by the CSSDM include “at home” hours in a proportion of up to 17% of the training time. These hours, which are funded by the Ministry of Education, are not allocated to teachers. They are devoted to “work”, and students have “the responsibility” to do them “seriously”, according to the CSSDM.
“Going to school means really going to school. Paying for “time at home” with our taxes is ridiculous and not instructive,” Ms. Rizqy wrote on the social network X after reading the text of Devoir.
Training for beneficiary attendants and accelerated practical nurses… and partly at home!
Going to school means really going to school. Paying for “time at home” with our taxes is ridiculous and not informative! https://t.co/Wa2wFbhsMG— Marwah Rizqy (@marwahrizqy) November 10, 2023
“It’s not just the student who’s being cheated. It’s the government, but also the patient. They are beneficiary attendants and auxiliary nurses. Already we are reducing training time, the few hours devoted to it are crucial. You have to take this really seriously,” she argued. “It’s nonsense, I can’t believe it. The minister must stick his nose in there, and firmly,” she argued.
In her opinion, the CSSDM should reimburse the amounts it received and which were allocated “at home” hours. “The ministry should [also] follow up to ensure that these students receive the missing training if necessary,” asked Ms. Rizqy.
Where is the money ?
At the FSSS-CSN, President Leclerc asked similar questions. “If the money isn’t given to the student, it’s somewhere in the system. And it’s not in the teacher’s pockets: there isn’t one, no teacher. So it must be in the pockets of the administrator, the establishment, the management or anyone. What do they do with it? » he asked. “We’re losing that money, that’s for sure. We do not see him. »
The quality of the training offered also worries Mr. Leclerc. “These hours at home, there is a high potential for them to be wasted hours, because there is no supervision,” he stressed.
In a response previously provided to Devoir, the CSSDM wrote that the student had the responsibility to “seriously do” the work required of him during these hours “at home”. The availability of teachers “is not required” in “real time”, but the student always has the opportunity to correspond with them, also reminded the School Service Center. “When returning to class, the teacher validates the students’ understanding in relation to the material contained in the tutorials,” wrote the CSSDM.
In the context of a labor shortage, this solution may seem “beautiful”, but it carries risks, according to Mr. Leclerc. The training is “first level”, he recalled. “It’s not like he’s a general practitioner who specializes,” he illustrated. “There, we start from scratch, we train them halfway and there are pieces that are made at home. » Mr. Leclerc, himself a paramedic, said he feared that students would experience a “shock” once they arrived on the ground.
Leveling to the bottom
At Québec solidaire, MP Ruba Ghazal said she shares the fears of certain teachers at the Faubourgs-de-Montreal School of Trades, who say they feel that their school is transforming into “a factory of attendants” — a place where, from Moreover, it seems “impossible to punish a student for failure.”
“The labor shortage should not be a pretext for leveling down vocational training programs. It is important that the training is comprehensive in order to adequately equip workers,” underlined Ms. Ghazal. “I understand the teachers’ concerns, it is important to listen to them, they are the experts. »
MP Joël Arseneau, of the Parti Québécois, also said he shared the teachers’ concerns. “Like [them], I think that all the hours prescribed in the program, already highly condensed, must be allocated to teaching as such, training in the classroom or in the workplace,” he said. declared. “Something’s wrong here. It is not normal for the Ministry of Education not to be aware of “at home” hours in a study program it funds. That he denies their existence, even though it has been confirmed by the Montreal School Service Center, is disturbing,” he continued.
In a response sent to Devoir Wednesday, the Ministry of Education wrote that hours at home “are not included in the study programs” such as accelerated training to become a beneficiary attendant or auxiliary nurse. The CSSDM, on the other hand, confirmed that these “at home” hours were financed by the ministry.