Succeeding in a course at the end of secondary school despite failure: Quebec puts an end to “deboulage”

A high school senior will no longer be able to pass a course after failing. education Minister Bernard Drainville is putting an end to the “disruption” in the school system.

This was a practice that had until now been officially authorized by the Ministry of Education, as reported The Journal in June.

• Also read: Passing a course at the end of secondary school despite failing: a practice denounced by teachers’ unions

A fourth-year secondary school student who failed French, for example, could still move on to fifth-year secondary school in the same subject the following year.

If he passed this course, it was then considered that the student had also retroactively passed the fourth year of secondary school.

The granting of credits for the failed course was done “automatically”, without schools having to request them on a case-by-case basis from the ministry.

The Federation of Education Unions (FSE-CSQ) opposed this practice, considered to be an overly widespread way of “putting students under the bus”.

No more “unrolling”

Or The Journal learned that Minister Bernard Drainville has decided to end the “unrolling” in 2024-2025.

This practice “will cease to be applied” since it contravenes the educational system and the law on public education, we can read in a letter sent by the Ministry of Education to the school network on Wednesday.

Third and fourth year students who fail certain subjects “will have to take the necessary steps to ensure their success”, through summer courses, a retake exam or by retaking the failed course.

“Extreme circumstances”

However, it will still be possible, “exceptionally,” to advance a student to a higher level despite failure due to “extreme circumstances” such as a “serious health problem” or a young person having experienced a “tragic event,” Quebec indicates.

The school service center will, however, have to obtain authorization from the minister before moving forward, as provided for in the regulations in place.

To obtain the units for the failed course, the student must also pass this course, and not just the higher level course.

Minister Drainville’s office specified that this practice “raised questions.”

“The minister has always said that student success is his priority and that we would never level down. This is why, after asking all the questions about this practice, he made the decision to put an end to it,” said his press attaché, Antoine de la Durantaye.

According to data obtained through an access to information request, the “unrolling” allowed 513 students in June 2023 who had failed their fourth-year French course to obtain the units related to the success of this course a year later, after having obtained a passing grade in their fifth-year French course.