October 29th, 2020
October 29th, 2020
QUEEN'S PARK - Guy Bourgouin, NDP MPP for Mushkegowuk-James Bay, and Michael Mantha, NDP MPP for Algoma-Manitoulin, held a virtual town hall on Wednesday evening with school trustees and teachers on the critical situation of French-language education in Northern Ontario.
The MPPs stressed the urgent need for the provincial government to take action on the staffing shortage in Francophone schools, reduce class sizes and provide a safe environment for students and staff.
“Doug Ford talks a lot, but hasn’t delivered,” Mantha said. “While the second wave of COVID-19 has already forced the closure of classes in several French-language schools, teachers, schools and school boards are doing their utmost to continue to ensure the well-being and success of our children,” Mantha said.
"School boards and francophone schools in the region suffer from a chronic shortage of teachers and skilled workers," said Bourgouin. "While the minister of education says he is ready to do the impossible to save education in French, does he really believe that we can face a crisis with job fairs and recruitment portals as he announced recently? It doesn't make sense, ”said Bourgouin.
Mantha and Bourgouin welcomed three panelists: Anne Vinet-Roy, president of the Association of Franco-Ontarian Teachers (AEFO), Natalie Tessier, educator and principal at Our Lady of Fatima school in Chapleau, and Michel Seguin, school counselor of the Public School Board of North East Ontario (CSPNE).
The panelists called for a reduction in the number of students per class, less crowded school buses, low-cost high-speed internet access and better support for French-language education in the region.
"We have to separate the students into cohorts in the schools, but we have students from five different schools on the same school buses in the Chapleau region," said Tessier.
“Trying to recruit and retain French-speaking staff is a challenge in the North and the pandemic has only made matters worse,” said Seguin.
“The Minister of Education should have sat down with education partners to draft a real plan, as soon as schools closed last March. If schools are still open, it’s thanks to teachers, education workers and school communities, not the Minister of Education. There is therefore a serious lack of cooperation on the part of the government. The government is deliberately projecting an image of the situation in schools that does not reflect reality at all,” said Vinet-Roy.
Video: https://www.facebook.com/guybourgouinmjb/videos/350495789364660