The race to choose a high school is starting earlier and earlier for elementary school students and their parents.
“We forget that, we have a waiting list. »General Director of Reine-Marie College in Montreal, Marc Tremblay thus answers the hypothetical question of Press : could we register a child currently in 6e year in high school, with a view to next year?
Among those responsible for this lack of places: the population increase.
“What I see in the industry is that colleagues are following the wave. The exams are disappearing and there are only a few schools left that have exam sessions in the fall, ”says Marc Tremblay, director general of Collège Reine-Marie, in the Saint-Michel district of Montreal.
In many schools, both private and public, the analysis of academic results has replaced the proverbial entrance exam. The pandemic has given a boost to this already started trend.
At Pensionnat du Saint-Nom-de-Marie, a secondary school for girls in Outremont, students are also admitted before they have completed their 5th grade.e primary year. This year, the school ended a two-decade-old tradition by abolishing the entrance exam.
“It’s an advantage for parents. We do not put stress between the 5e and the 6e year. Lots of parents prepared students, some did day exam preparation camps and took lots of tests in a single weekend [d’automne]. We wanted to get out of that, ”explains Yves Petit, general manager of the boarding school.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Guided tour of the College of Montreal
Other private schools in the greater Montreal area are already preparing for the 2023-2024 school year and are inviting students from 5e year to participate in their open house.
Even within the private network, some criticize this way of doing things, the “first come, first served” of schools: for them, picking up students at the end of 5 years.e The year looks more like a technique for recruiting young people before other establishments.
Director General of Reine-Marie College, Marc Tremblay began to select students in 5e year already 10 years ago. The main reason, he says, is to have the time to meet with each family that applies for admission to their school.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Marc Tremblay, Director General of Reine-Marie College
I have been criticized for it. I was told: “Coudonc, are you going to get them in 3?e, in 4e year ?”
Marc Tremblay, Director General of Reine-Marie College
“It’s a lottery”
It is not only in private schools that the craze is felt. Met during the open house of the College of Montreal ten days ago, Cyril Vulgarides pointed out that “in the public schools which are interesting, there are many requests”. His 11-year-old daughter Simone is entering high school next year. “There are highly sought-after schools, it’s a lottery. ”
This is not a figure of speech: wanting to be “more inclusive”, the Montreal School Service Center (CSSDM) has changed the way it selects students in some of its schools.
“Before, if we had a hundred places for a level, we had 200 tests and we took the best. We now give a minimum criterion: for example, all young people who have scored above 70% participate in a draw, ”explains Benoit Thomas, director of the secondary schools unit at the CSSDM.
Special programs are in demand, as parents testified when they spent the night outside to ensure a place for their child in a secondary school in the Villeray district a few years ago. In some schools, there are many more called than elected. For example, the Joseph-François-Perrault public school, in the Saint-Michel district, offered by draw last year 40 places in its international education program (IEP), among 300 admissions applications. .
More high school students than ever
Due to an increase in births just over 10 years ago, high schools in the province are receiving more students than ever in these years.
They were 88,891 babies to be born in Quebec in 2009. A few years earlier, the province had observed a low in births. In 2002, there were 16,000 fewer births. As their parents can tell, the babies of 2009 are now tweens.
Their arrival in high school is felt. This is particularly the case in Montreal, where the lack of space has been particularly acute in recent years in elementary schools.
“We have been welcoming a large number of students for several years. In general, we are able to absorb the increase in clientele because the buildings in secondary school are larger, the ratios in the classrooms are greater ”, explains Benoit Thomas, director of the secondary schools unit at the CSSDM. .
In some neighborhoods, like Ahuntsic, the situation is “problematic” because there is only one high school to accommodate all young people. In the east of the island of Montreal, where “a lot of condo towers are being built”, space will also have to be added for the arrival of new students.
The increase in students entering high school is likely to continue at least until 2024-2025, observes Thomas.
Spoiled for choice
PHOTO PASCAL RATTHÉ, THE SUN
Ryma Belmouloud and her daughter Rania
“I didn’t know you had to shop high schools! »On the phone, Ryma Belmouloud laughs. Arriving from Algeria five years ago, she gradually discovered the Quebec education system.
“In Algeria, students are automatically assigned to a secondary school. I called a friend [québécoise] so that she explains to me how the school progresses. I understand that you can go to the neighborhood high school, but also that you can combine studies with an activity, ”says Mme Belmouloud.
If she and her husband mainly chose Quebec for the French language, they had also heard that the Quebec school system was good. In this context, learning from their daughter Rania’s primary school that visits were taking place in secondary schools surprised the parents.
“I said to myself: already, in 5e year ! Looking at the sites, I saw that several schools held open doors, ”explains Ryma Belmouloud.
Postdoctoral researcher in sociology of education at Laval University, Véronique Grenier is interested in the dynamics of school markets in Quebec.
She recalls that depending on where you live in Quebec, the choice of a secondary school arises… or not.
“We find the question of the choice of school in regions such as Sherbrooke, Quebec or the Outaouais, but Montreal is special compared to the rest of the province. The educational offer is more diversified, the neighborhoods are close together, public transport is accessible, ”she explains, while deploring that children living in the regions have fewer offers than those in urban centers.
About ten days ago, the Collège de Montréal opened its doors by invitation to future students. Visitors were greeted on the school grounds to the sound of an orchestra. They followed a pre-established route in the building, during which they were explained the different options available. Nearly 300 families attended.
Mila, 11, was there with her parents. Combining private and public schools, the number of visits made by the family rises to a dozen. “Honestly, I have a spreadsheet [tableau] », Laughs his mother Nadine Ishak.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Chris Hardt and his daughter Mila on a guided tour at the Collège de Montréal
Is choosing a high school stressful? Yes, his father, Chris Hardt, replies without hesitation.
Once again this year, the visits are entirely virtual in the schools of the Center de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM). “We set up 360-degree tours, like house tours. We used drones to get aerial images of schools, ”explains Benoit Thomas, director of the secondary schools unit.
He defends himself well from selling schools in the same way as one sells houses. ” Not at all. We are highlighting our programs, because we have improved the various options offered in neighborhood schools. We want to discover these options, ”says Thomas.
Parents involved
Director General of Reine-Marie College, Marc Tremblay says that in recent years, parents have become a little more critical, “questioning themselves more about what is good for their child and what is less”. Public schools also offer more choice than before, he observes.
A finding also made by researcher Véronique Grenier. “It’s good to see parents motivated by school, who are wondering what is best for their children. It’s important and there is a big movement towards it, ”she observes.
She is not against giving children a choice of programs, but recalls that restricting access to some of them on the basis of academic performance reproduces inequalities.
“We must ensure that the system participates as little as possible. The question of school markets was present before: in the 1970s, parents chose private schools, international schools were created in the 1980s. But it was not at today’s level. It’s a bit alarming, ”says Véronique Grenier.