Quebec parents to form human chains around schools over funding
Group says overcrowding, lack of funding are crippling public education system
Quebec students are set to return to school this week and parents are already preparing for a fresh wave of protests.
The non-profit organization Je protège mon école publique says parents will be back to form human chains around schools this fall. The group claims overcrowding and a lack of funding are crippling Quebec's public education system.
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"I have to say that we're in a worst situation than we were in during spring 2015," Pascale Grignon, spokesperson for Je protège mon école publique, told Radio-Canada.
In the 2015-2016 school year, teachers and staff held rotating walkouts to protest a stall in contract negotiations and working conditions until a deal was struck between a majority of public sector unions and Quebec.
Grignon said while some improvements have been made, public schools across the province remain in peril. Parents will mobilize outside of schools starting Sept. 1.
'We have to make education in Quebec a priority'
Unions representing teachers and other staff have also called upon Quebec Education Minister Sébastien Proulx to implement more funding for support staff to help students.
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Mélanie Renaud, the vice-president of a union representing school support staff affiliated with the CSQ, invited Proulx to visit schools to witness firsthand the impact of previous budget cuts.
"Those cuts affected the services for the children so those things have to stop," Renaud said. "We have to make education in Quebec a priority."
With files from Radio-Canada