(January 28, 2021 – Montreal) The English Parents’ Committee Association (EPCA)is outraged that English students are not being considered in the government’s plan for new tutoring services.
EPCA welcomed the announcement by Education Minister Jean-François Roberge concerning new investments in tutoring for the Quebec student population in this difficult period. This included provisions for new services and platforms organized and offered through school service centres and school boards.
This may be good news, but only for part of the population. There is also significant funding announced for existing services such as Alloprof, which offer quality services to its clientele, but does not offer the services required by Quebec's English student population.
The province’s sole government-funded tutoring resource, LEARN-Québec, has not been included in any similar funding announcement.
“This is most troubling, especially given the fact that LEARN has increased its registrations by more than 200 percent since March 2020,” says EPCA president Katherine Korakakis. “It has reached a breaking point, and they have had to shut down registration for elementary school services just weeks before the next report cards are due, when we expect a significant spike in demand. LEARN is continuing with registrations for high school students, but it can currently take up to four weeks to get a tutor.
This is wholly unacceptable.”
It seems that the English community’s needs are an afterthought, and EPCA is awaiting a correction to this clear oversight of the need to support Quebec’s English-speaking youth.
“It is intolerable that during the most vulnerable era in recent history for Quebec students, these needs have been neglected” says Korakakis. “EPCA insists that anglophone students be given equal consideration, and without delay. We expect, and will accept, nothing less.”