The Quebec government will put an end to its controversial education hiring freeze.
According to Radio Canada, Quebec’s new Education Minister, Sonia LeBel will lift the ban put in place by her predecessor Bernard Drainville.
Posting on social media Wednesday morning, LeBel writes that school service centres (CSS) will be able to manage their resources, as long as it falls within budget.
“The targets remain targets. It is an essential indicator for tracking the budget. However, we want the rules to allow CSS to manage their resources without compromising services to students and while respecting budgets. We will support them.”
ETC/Éducation: les cibles demeurent des cibles. C’est un indicateur essentiel pour suivre le budget. Or, on souhaite que les règles permettent aux CSS de gérer leurs ressources sans compromettre les services aux élèves et dans le respect des budgets. On va les accompagner.
In June, then Education Minister Bernard Drainville, announced $570 million in cuts to the system.
This decision sparked an outcry in the school community and among the general public, prompting Drainville in July to back down and announce a reinvestment of $540 million.
However, in order to access the funds, school service centres had to comply with a staffing cap, which prevented some of them from rehiring staff who had been laid off at the end of the last school year.
Related:
In September, Québec solidaire education spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois argued that LeBel should begin her term as Minister of Education by “cleaning up the mess” left by her predecessor.
“What’s the point of putting money into theory if, in reality, we’re imposing a staffing cap that prevents schools from hiring speech therapists, remedial teachers, and special education technicians (TES)?” he argued.
-With files from The Canadian Press
