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Quebec's new challenges in education

Published: 17 November 2004

Education professionals and decision-makers are gathering at 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ for a one-day symposium to review Quebec's education system this week.

91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ's Quebec Studies Progam and Faculty of Education are teaming up, on November 18, to underline the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Ministère de l'Éducation du Québec (MEQ) and of the Conseil supérieur de l'Éducation (CSE).

  • What: "New challenges in education: What roles can and must the Quebec state play in education?"
  • When: 8:15 am to 7 pm, Thursday, November 18, 2004
  • Where: Room 232, Leacock Building (855 Sherbrooke St. W.)

Bill 60, which led to the creation of the MEQ and the CSE, was a landmark legislation of Premier Jean Lesage's government in 1964. Part of the mission of the reforms contained in Bill 60 was to incorporate Quebec values into the education system.

Much of the roundtable discussions of the symposium will address how successful MEQ and CSE reforms have been. Conference speakers will include Pierre Lucier, deputy minister of education; Jean-Pierre Proulx, president of the Conseil supérieur de l'Éducation; and Norman Henchey, 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ emeritus professor, Faculty of Education. These and other speakers will also debate on:

  • 40 years after Bill 60, what are the Quebec State's essential functions in education?
  • What are the challenges for the architecture of the Quebec school system?
  • What role will the State play in the future governance of education?

"It is vital that, as a society, we periodically reflect on the state of Quebec's educational system," says Catherine Desbarats, director of the Quebec Studies Program. "91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ's Quebec Studies Program and Faculty of Education have organized this symposium to bring education back to the forefront of the public agenda, since it is a paramount concern that needs to be reexamined by society."

A full conference program is attached or can be obtained by consulting the following website: .

November 18, 2004: Conference program

New challenges in education: What roles can and must the Quebec State play in education?
Symposium to mark the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Ministère de l'Éducation du Québec and the Conseil Supérieur de l'Éducation

8:30 am Opening Address
Pierre Lucier, Deputy Minister, Ministère de l'Éducation du Québec
New and future challenges. 40 years after Bill 60, what are the Quebec State's essential functions in education? What values should it put forward?
Commentators: Janyne M. Hodder, vice-principal (inter-institutional affairs), 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ, and Sophie Paquet, chair, Conseil permanent pour la jeunesse
Moderator: Catherine Desbarats, director, Quebec Studies Program, 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

10 am to 11:15 am
Jean-Pierre Proulx, chair, Conseil Supérieur de l'Éducation
What are the challenges for the architecture of the Quebec school system and what are the action priorities for the State to assure quality, meet the needs of the Quebec population as a whole and respect diversity?
Commentators: Patrick Woodsworth, former principal, Dawson College, and Fernand Ouellet, Université de Sherbrooke
Moderator: Spencer Boudreau, Faculty of Education, 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

11:15 am to 12:30 pm
Norman Henchey, professor emeritus, Faculty of Education, 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ
What is the role of the Ministry of Education regarding the school curriculum? What innovation is possible when the governance is central?
Commentator: Nathalie Morel, Alliance des professeures et professeurs de Montréal
Moderator: Roy Lyster, Faculty of Education, 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

1:30 pm to 2:45 pm
Isabelle Daunais, professor, Department of French Language and Literature, 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ
The CEGEP: at the heart of the Quebec State's educational mission
Commentators: Monique Laurin, executive director, Collège Lionel-Groulx, and André Beaudet, Fédération des commissions scolaires du Québec
Moderator: François Ricard (Department of French Language and Literature, 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ)

2:45 pm to 4 pm
François Vaillancourt, professor, Department of Economics, Université de Montréal
University funding: what roles for states and for students?
Commentators: Frederic Lesemann, professor, INRS (Urbanisation, Culture et Société), and Pier-André Bouchard-St-Amant, president of the FEUQ
Moderator: Bernard Descôteaux, editor-in-chief, Le Devoir

4:15 pm to 5:30 pm
Claude Lessard, professor, Department of Educational Administration and Fundamentals, Faculty of Education, Université de Montréal
Is the mission of the generalist public school being transformed? Mutations and trends
Commentators: Diane De Courcy, chair, CSDM, and Louis Laliberté, principal, Collège Jean-Eudes
Moderator: Jacques Rebuffot (professor emeritus, Faculty of Education, 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ)

5:30 pm to 7 pm
Closing roundtable:
40 years of State intervention in Quebec education. Governance in education in Quebec and Canada, then and now
What is the State's future role in governance of education? What lessons can be drawn from the actions of the Quebec State and other Canadian provinces?
Speakers: Jane Gaskell, principal, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, and Céline Saint-Pierre, INRS, Fernand-Dumont Chair
Moderator: Gretta Chambers, chancellor emeritus, 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

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