Parents involved in the governing boards of three Montreal schools are said to have blocked the content of certain sexuality education courses, a situation which represents a “slippage” in the eyes of the president of the parents’ committee of Montreal schools.
Bedford, Saint-Pascal-Baylon primary schools and La Voie secondary school, all located in the Côte-des-Neiges district, are affected by this blockage, according to an investigation by The Press.
“It certainly concerns me, we are talking about the school board on which a significant number of parents sit,” reacted Kiléka Coulibaly, president of the parents’ committee of Montreal schools, in an interview with LCN, Friday.
According to her, parents who sit on a governing board have very clear guidelines. “When we decide as parents to get involved with the school board, we do it for all the students, not just for us,” she explained.
Five hours of sexuality education classes have been compulsory per year for primary school students since 2018, according to the Ministry of Education. This number increases to 15 hours per year for those in secondary school.
“The governing board itself has a certain power, but never to interfere in teaching expertise or even [de] refuse that a course requested by the ministry is not given to an entire school,” established Mme Coulibaly.
“These parents still touched the expertise side of the teaching staff. It couldn’t be done. […] There was clearly a slip-up. There, we will have to reframe and perhaps rethink the training that is given,” she said.
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