“Education is the most powerful weapon that can be used to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela
January 24 is “International Day of Education”, named by the United Nations General Assembly.
The theme for this third edition is: Recover and revitalize education for the Covid-19 generation.
All the countries of the world unite to mark this special day. A privileged moment to question the proposed theme and think about concrete solutions according to the realities of each.
At home in Quebec, if we looked at some statistics about our high school kids:
Claire Isabelle
In 2018-2019, for Quebec as a whole, the graduation and qualification rate (Secondary 1 to 5) was around 81.7%, a rate calculated over a period of seven years. A very good average that should be maintained and even improved for future years.
Another very positive element is that we are seeing a constant increase in the success rate of the ministerial exams in the fourth and fifth secondary courses for all of Quebec. In June 2018, the rate increased to 90.9%.
Not to mention that our young Quebecers maintain a reputation for excellence in reading, mathematics and science in the International Education Program. In 2018, in the assessment comprising 80 countries, in reading, students in Canada ranked 6th in the world after those in China, Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong and Estonia. Quebec, tied with British Columbia, is third in the country, after Alberta and Ontario. In mathematics, Quebec students perform better than the Canadian average and come 5th . In science, Quebecers are in 7th position.
Although this survey which assesses the monitoring of prior learning has limitations such as the assessment of students’ ability to solve problems of daily life without demonstration, lack of consideration for social factors, the fact remains that our students can be proud.
Will the current situation influence the learning of our young people? Despite all the efforts we make, it is clear that the three main focus of the mission of our Quebec school: educate, socialize, qualify are well affected, particularly with regard to socialization.
It is therefore a collaborative effort that must be continued in order to encourage our young people to persevere in their educational path.
In closing, we owe it to ourselves to warmly thank the commitment of all the staff: principals, teachers, support staff as well as education professionals without forgetting the invaluable contribution of parents who devote themselves to provide a quality and healthy educational environment for our young people.
Claire IsaBelle and the team!
