Achi news desk-
Since 2018, almost 30 percent of preschool centers (CPEs) and day care centers have failed the educational quality assessment prepared by the Family Ministry.
This failure rate rose to 41 percent in 2022-2023.
Quebec Auditor General Jalain Leclerc presented a wide-ranging, four-part report to the National Assembly on Thursday, sharply criticizing Suzanne Roy’s office.
Leclerc points out that by law, every child has the right, within the limits of available resources and spaces, to receive high-quality and high-quality educational care.
However, the ministry “did little to intervene” in childcare services that failed assessment, and the corrective actions put in place were insufficient, its report said.
In a news briefing, the Comptroller General established a “correlation” between the failure rates and the lack of qualified staff; The rate of after-school programs without a ratio of two qualified educators out of three increased from 32 to 46 percent between 2018 and 2023.
After reducing the ratio during the COVID-19 pandemic, Quebec aims to gradually return to a regulatory ratio of two qualified educators out of three by April 2027.
At this rate, it will be “almost impossible” to achieve, the auditor general predicted to reporters on Thursday.
Children’s health and safety
Moreover, the number of complaints regarding “inappropriate attitudes or practices” rose from 203 in 2018-2019 to 358 in 2022-2023, a 76 percent increase, she noted.
She gave an example of a complaint received by the office: “Educators (…) would regularly use threats, sarcasm and humiliation in their interventions with children.”
In addition: “Great hostility (…) pulling on a child’s arm, clenched teeth and an angry face, moving a child by hitting him against the low wall, pushing him to the ground.”
The ministry’s interventions “are not sufficient to prevent frequent violations of children’s health and safety,” Leclerc said.
In her report, she cited expired medications, improperly stored toxic cleaning products, and problems verifying the absence of triggers in more than 20 percent of tests.
It should be noted that the police must determine whether the educator has a history of certain behaviors (inappropriate sexual behavior, violent behavior, failure to provide the necessities of life).
If this is the case, the ministry or the children’s education service must decide whether the person is prevented from working in child care.
As if that wasn’t enough, the auditor general also noted that over 15% of the dormitories were never tested for lead in the water.
The ministry also does not ensure adequate monitoring of the actions taken by those with excessively high lead levels, she concluded in her report.
For example, 90 percent of the afternoon students were tested, and 26 percent exceeded the standard.
Minister Roy is reassuring
“We have data that shows us that what we’ve been so proud of for 25 years, well, it’s a network that’s deteriorating,” Joel Arsenault, spokesman for the Parti Québécois, said on Thursday. “The government of course wants to move forward quickly, but not necessarily better (…) I think this report is extremely painful for the Minister of Families, but also for families that use after-school services.”
When asked at Salon Blue on Thursday, Roy claimed that “the environments are safe” and that “we continue to evaluate on an ongoing basis to constantly improve the quality within the network.”
The Ministry for its part recalled that “During the period covered by the audit, the Childcare and Educational Services (SGEE) had to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and an unprecedented shortage of personnel.
“The mobilization as well as the constant and prolonged efforts of the SGEE network made it possible to ensure quality service despite the inherent challenges in the context of the epidemic,” it said.
Union responses
In a press release published on Thursday, the Association québécoise des CPE (AQCPE) expressed concern at the “serious alarm signal sent by a neutral body”.
“Although it also has its own challenges, the CPE (…) is the model that produces the highest quality and the most likely to ensure the safety of children. Let’s choose it,” said Marie-Claude Lemieux, co-CEO of the company.
The Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) and the Fédération des interventionantes en petite jeunesse du Québec (FIPEQ-CSQ) added that the auditor general’s report on the quality of early childhood education services is worrying.
They demand “that the government take seriously the issues that exist in the network and make the necessary efforts to keep qualified therapists in place and thus guarantee better quality services.”
Failure rate in educational quality assessment:
2022-2023
- CPE: 21 percent
- Subsidized day care centers: 57 percent
- Unsubsidized day care centers: 59 percent
- The failure rate for the years 2022-2023: 41 percent
- Cumulative since 2018: 30 percent
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 23, 2024.
