2023-06-14 19:30:00
Administration students denounce the “infantilizing” management of the Professional School of Saint-Hyacinthe, where mothers have been criticized for being absent for their sick child or for a pregnant woman to go too often to the toilet.
“We are not teenagers in high school […] If my child is sick at daycare, I have no choice but to pick him up,” says Marika Richard, 28.
She was forced by the management to interrupt the administration program in May, when academically, she was successful, she says.
The newspaper met five students in this program, which can lead to a vocational diploma (DVS) in accounting and secretarial work, depending on the sections and duration chosen.
Classes do not include workshops or lectures, the students explain. Everyone progresses at their own pace in a notebook, provided that the modules are completed within the time allowed. During an absence, work can therefore easily be resumed at home in the evening, they indicate.
Even the gastro
However, many of them struggle to have their absences motivated for family reasons, while most are single mothers. They say they experience anxiety at the idea that an unexpected event or an appointment will force them to be absent once more.
“I would have had to show up at school with gastro,” quips Martine Daigle, 32. “No one is going to get a doctor’s note with gastro.”
A pregnant student says she constantly has to unpack her medical and mental records.
“They calculate everything by the minute […] If I stay too long in the toilet, I get notified,” says the one who is in her third trimester of pregnancy. She requested anonymity, given the personal nature of her testimony.
“It’s bullying”
“We are constantly threatened with being kicked out. [du programme]. It’s intimidation, ”denounces Sandra Bérubé, 39.
She filed a complaint with the Center de services scolaire de Saint-Hyacinthe (CSSSH) at the end of May, then met with the school principal. She would have been told that the management of absences in her program was adequate, reports Mme Berube.
Program management did not return the appeal of the Journal. By email, the CSSSH says it takes these allegations seriously and has forwarded them to the school administration.
How can such insistence on student attendance be explained? “To ensure the progression of learning […] while preserving the value of the diplomas awarded”.
The CSSSH ensures that “the personal situation of a student is taken into account in the analysis of the file” and that “the establishment aims to promote school perseverance”, indicates Esther Charrette.
The female students, on the other hand, have the impression that it is quite the opposite. “We are told all the time: are you sure that you are in your place?”, illustrates Nathalie Garand, 40 years old.
No one to represent these students
Nobody knows if students from other professional centers experience the same thing as in Saint-Hyacinthe since no association represents them, contrary to what is done in higher education.
“There is no consultation in vocational training (FP)”, deplores Henri Boudreault, professor of education at UQAM.
While at CEGEP or university, students can come together to assert their rights beyond their class, such an association does not exist in vocational training.
The situation of women in FP goes particularly under the radar, while it is still generally on them that family management rests, notes Céline Chatigny, also a professor of education at UQAM.
Is it normal to reproach female students for their absences for family or health reasons? “I wouldn’t say it’s normal,” says the one who believes it raises questions.
More severe than at CEGEP
Such attendance constraints are even more severe than what is found in CEGEP, where attendance in class is rarely monitored.
“I found it easier in CEGEP than now … and I had four children in my care at that time,” says Nathalie Garand, who had started college studies in 2006.
Class attendance is a very common requirement in VT, because these programs are aimed at the complete learning of a trade, recalls Mr. Boudreault.
“It requires developing knowledge, interpersonal skills and know-how,” he explains.
However, several VT centers now offer the remote administration program, like teleworking, which is also increasingly widespread in this field.
“Absurd”
“There are things that are learned well from a distance and others that are not.” For example, the theory lends itself to it.
“I’ve seen absurd attendance requirements before. Why would a student be there at 8:30 a.m.? Are there any lessons that will take place? […] Otherwise, taking attendance is only an administrative act,” says Mr. Boudreault.
He also criticizes the “individualized approach” of several administration programs which consists of letting each student progress in a notebook.
“You don’t learn a trade from a book,” he says. “It’s the cancer of pedagogy.”
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