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February 10, 2021 – Provincial government update on the COVID-19 pandemic
Here is an update on recent decisions and actions by the Québec government in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Assessing academic performance
Minister of Education Jean-François Roberge unveiled the results of an analysis that paints an overall picture of the situation regarding academic success among elementary and secondary students in the context of the upheaval caused by the pandemic.
The analysis, representative of the overall reality of students in Québec, in both francophone and anglophone schools, revealed that the increase in academic failure has been less significant than expected.
Minister Roberge said that for elementary students, the rate of success has remained virtually the same when comparing last year’s pre-pandemic results with this year’s results.
At the secondary level, the results have also remained virtually the same, with the exception of grades 9 and 10 where there has been a decrease in the success rate in mathematics, that is, a 3% and 4.2% decrease respectively.
According to the minister, these results confirm that learning with alternating student attendance in the classroom did not result in an increased rate of failure.
The weighting of two report cards instead of three during this year of the pandemic will be 35% for the first report card and 65% for the second one in order to allow students who were experiencing difficulties at the beginning of the year to achieve better results.
Additional tutoring
Concerned about students who are having difficulties, Minister Robert also announced a strategy to provide academic assistance by introducing a tutoring program.
The tutors called on to help students are retired teachers, future education graduates and specialists who already hold positions.
“There’s no doubt that the pandemic has had an impact in our schools. The tutoring program will also be available this summer for students who need extra help,” said Mr. Roberge.
It will be up to schools to determine which students will receive help and in which subjects.