(Québec) The government’s loans and bursaries program lacks transparency and fairness, concludes the Québec Ombudsman in a report published Thursday.
Posted at 2:30 p.m.
In each of the sections of her 55-page investigation, Marie Rinfret notes a “lack of transparency in the ways of doing things”, “disparities in treatment” and a “lack of listening” to the detriment of the student who wants to make his voice.
The applicant or the complainant does not know the reasons why his application is refused by Aide financière aux études (AFE).
“The Québec Ombudsman’s investigation revealed that the grounds on which the AFE’s decisions are based are not accessible to the persons concerned,” denounces Ms.me Rinfret.
What’s more, the entire framework that allows rules to be interpreted in order to arrive at decisions is not made public.
“The Québec Ombudsman finds that the administrative rules adopted by AFE to apply its law and the resulting regulations, whether policies, directives or guidelines, among others, are not not broadcast by the AFE, can we read in the survey. Students cannot consult them. »
AFE explains that it refuses to release them so as not to further confuse students in the application process.
The Québec Ombudsman also noted “gaps” in the notes recorded by the officers who process applications for financial assistance.
“According to the information obtained during the interviews, the insufficiency, or even absence, of analysis notes constitutes a major deficiency. »
Appeals Office
Furthermore, M.me Rinfret notes that the Appeals Office lacks independence, since it is an internal body of Aide financière aux études which is responsible for studying requests for review.
This leads to “inequities between students,” she laments.
It therefore recommends making this office a separate ministerial entity from the AFE in order to ensure its “independence, impartiality and credibility”.
It also suggests providing for an appeal to the Administrative Tribunal for people who are dissatisfied with a decision of the Appeals Office.
This would make AFE accountable for its decisions “to an external and independent authority,” she writes.
The Québec Ombudsman analyzed complaint files over three years, from 2017 to 2020.
More than 1.1 billion dollars per year are allocated by AFE in loans and bursaries.