Notes swollen: the minister of Education could take action

File Photo, Simon Clark
The minister of Education, Sébastien Proulx

Daphnée Dion-Viens

Friday, 16 February 2018 20:47

UPDATE
Friday, 16 February 2018 20:59

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The minister of Education, Sébastien Proulx, could take action if it is demonstrated that principals or school boards had “cheated” in order to inflate the grades of the students.

This is what he let on Friday in Montreal, on the sidelines of an event at the Chamber of commerce of metropolitan Montreal.

“If we had school principals or committees, which do not comply with the law […], I could intervene via the budgetary rules and punish accordingly,” he said, pointing out that no similar situation had not yet been demonstrated until now.

These statements arise as a teacher, Chrystelle Charpin, was denounced in the newspaper Le Devoir on Friday, the handling of notes in which she claims to have been a victim. The teacher at the primary school Lucille-Teasdale in Montreal rumored to have had a shock when, on his return from sick leave, she found that the notes of his pupils had been modified without his knowledge. Nine first year students who were failed have received a passing grade, ” she says, because during his absence, management resume reviews.

Version disputed

The Montreal school board contests, however, this version of the facts. According to its president, Catherine Harel-Bourdon, there has been no manipulation of notes. The students have been revalued by a professional of the school, following the departure of the teacher, because the latter had left no written traces – tests or student work – that have allowed it to support its evaluation. Harel Bourdon said that it was of first year students who have been assessed by Mrs. Charpin at the end of October, just a few weeks after the beginning of the school year.

For its part, the Alliance of professors of Montreal has filed a grievance against the changes of notes that would have been made by the management of this school located in the neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges, in Montreal. Despite the directive on the assessment issued by the minister Sébastien Proulx in may 2017, the pressure to pass students is always great in the school system, says the president of the Alliance, Catherine Renaud.

The minister had then stated that ” the changes of notes in order to reach targets of success are not tolerated “.