Secondary 4 and 5 students at the Plateau de La Malbaie school, enrolled in mathematics and enriched sciences, could be prohibited from participating in sports and cultural concentration programs from next year, this which raises a wave of indignation among the parents of the young people concerned.
This proposed modification to the subject grid will be presented this evening during the meeting of the governing board of the Plateau school, and a vote will be held.
In a letter sent to parents a few days ago, and signed by the director of the Plateau school, Mme Élise Croteau, it is indicated that this is “the result of work carried out by a committee composed of members of staff and management, who met every two weeks throughout the fall. It was presented to all teaching staff last December. A majority of them expressed themselves in favor of this proposal.
The reasons for this proposal would be administrative.
Choosing between sport and school
In other words, with this resolution, students registered in enriched science and mathematics programs will have to make the following choice: continue their studies in an enriched program, necessary to enter several post-secondary programs, or continue to do sport.
Mélissa Bouchard’s son will have to experience this dilemma if the proposal is accepted.
“In the spring, my son will be 14 years old. At this age, he will be asked to choose between whether he wants to spend his time studying or whether he wants to have fun with his friends who will not take strong math. He always wanted to take his maths hard but, now, he is questioning,” explains the mother who will be present during the meeting on Monday evening.
Mme Bouchard also assures one thing: this proposal would outrage her even if she did not have a son in the process of having to make this choice. And the reason is simple: his eldest son was able to participate in a sports concentration program during his time at the Plateau school and the positive consequences were enormous.
“It was a motivation for him. He needed it. The dropout rate is higher among young boys and I don’t understand why we want to take that away from them,” adds the woman who deplores the lack of details and explanations offered by the school since the announcement of the proposal. .
“We are all in nothingness.”
The Journal contacted the management of the Plateau school, who referred us to the letter sent to parents a few days ago.
“Management has nothing to add at this time,” we were told.
A petition
Moreover, a petition called Let’s maintain the concentrations for secondary 4-5 students in math-sciences was launched on January 7. In six days, it had received nearly 1,200 signatures.
Note that if the vote was rejected, this evening, management could resume work in order to propose a new solution to the governing board.
