Quebec agrees to hold a summit on educational success

MONTREAL — Education Minister Jean-François Roberge announced Thursday that a summit on educational success will be held March 31 and April 1.

Roberge is following up on a long-standing request from Liberal MNA Marwah Rizqy.

The event, which will be held virtually, has been dubbed 'Rendezvous for Educational Success: Education beyond the Pandemic'.

"The current situation deserves that we pool our efforts to ensure that students have everything they need to persevere and succeed," Roberge said in a statement.

"It is a call to concerted effort, mobilization and action that I am launching today to prioritize the success of all students and to mitigate the consequences that the crisis may have had on them."

For months, Rizqy has been calling for a forum to prepare for the end of the education crisis and equip students for the start of the 2021-2022 school year.

"I am very happy that this suggestion has been accepted and that we will be able to work together in a collegial way for educational success," she said in an interview.

This consultation period will allow education stakeholders as well as MNAs to discuss the pedagogical and psychosocial effects of the pandemic and ways to counter them.

The general public will also be able to participate in the summit, which will address three themes

Rizqy also believes that the issue of teacher shortages will be a major topic of discussion.

"I'm sure the people who are going to participate will bring a lot to the table," she said.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2021.