Elections : Voting for a Free, Accessible and Quality Education

Montreal, April 2nd, 2003 – With Québec Elections quickly approaching, this week various elites from the government, private, and public sectors will gather to hypocritically celebrate the Parent Report, a progressive education project that has only deteriorated since it came into existence. Released 40 years ago, the Report, was crucial in structuring Québec’s education system, leading to the creation of Cegeps, and the Ministry of Education. The Report also made the important recommendation that all levels of education be accessible and free to all, but 40 years later this is far from reality for Québec’s post-secondary institutions.

In fact, the changes that have occurred have taken post-secondary education in the opposite direction. Massive cuts to the education system, performance-based funding, increased public-private partnerships, and competition between institutions have all taken their toll on academic freedom and critical thinking at the post-secondary level, and has led to a decrease in accessibility. According to Francois Baillargeon, spokesperson for the ASSÉ, ¨in order to have a just society, we need an education system that is accessible to everyone, that offers quality teaching, that supports students in their endeavours, and that challenges the inequalities that exist in the system with the long-term hope of making them disappear altogether¨. Regarding changes to government funding, Aimee van Drimmelen, Chairperson of the CFS-Q says, ¨we are witnessing the institution of a two-tiered education system : on one level those more profitable education sectors and institutions that are able to abide by the performance requirements of the government receive more funding, new equipment, and specialized programs. The rest have to make do with the leftovers – or in the case of this year’s budget, no new funding at all.¨

With the Québec elections fast approaching, the ASSÉ and CFS-Q want to send a strong message to all parties running with regard to our current post-secondary education system. If they are going to publicly celebrate the importance of the Parent Report, they must respect it in its entirety and reflect it in their actions: by moving towards an education system that free, public, and accessible for all.
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Contacts:
CFSQ - Aimee van Drimmelen, spokesperson of the CFS-Q : Office : 931-2377, www.education-action.net
ASSÉ - Francois Baillargeon, spokesperson of the ASSÉ : Office : (514) 390-0110, www.asse-solidarite.qc.ca