Encrypted ballots are here to stay says Drainville

Encrypted ballots “are here to stay,” says Drainville

Minister Bernard Drainville shut down the debate launched by school leaders: ending the encrypted certificate and replacing it with a competency assessment is out of the question.

• Also read: School boards want to abolish the encrypted bulletin

“The numbered ballot papers and group averages will remain,” the education minister decided on Wednesday in the corridors of parliament. Well, if the teachers want to add comments, that’s fine. It’s about their professional autonomy. There is no opposition between the two.”

Bernard Drainville was responding to the proposal by the Quebec Federation of Educational Establishment Directors (FQDE) and the Quebec Association of School Management Staff (AQPDE) to end the percentages on reports. These would be replaced by ratings (e.g. from 1 to 5) of the skills provided in the program.

“A few years ago we had this debate about encrypted ballots and we decided to go back to encrypted ballots. And so we stick with the encrypted ballots. I don’t feel like opening this debate again,” says the new Minister of Education.

Parents also need to be able to compare their children’s results with those of their student group. “Parents have a right to know. […] It’s important to be able to quickly understand: is my child struggling with this or that subject?” explains Mr. Drainville.

“I think this is an important piece of information that I want to keep,” adds the minister.

Unfinished reform

However, recent studies suggest that percentages and group averages are disappearing, according to FQDE.

“The majority of research shows that it is not necessary. In addition, it deviates a little from the intention of the teacher, who aims more at assessment than at imparting knowledge or skills, ”its president Nicolas Prévost confided to the Journal on Wednesday.

For its part, the AQPDE stressed that “this was planned at the beginning of the reform”, in the early 2000s.

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