Quebec opposition leaders, daycares join forces to fight CAQ's proposed pre-K classes

StartingMonday afternoon, Montreal-area daycare providers will be asking parents to sign apetition calling on PremierFranoisLegaultto ditch his plan to make pre-kindergarten classes available to four-year-olds.

The Liberals, Parti Qubcois and Qubec solidaireare also throwing their combined political weightbehind the effort to stop the proposed Bill 5 from going through.

The petition, launchedin December, has already garnered nearly 20,000signatures from citizensopposed to the proposed changes to the education system.

Regardless of the petition's growing support, the CoalitionAvenirQubectabled legislation on Thursday toamend the province's Education Act to ensure "all children having reached four years of age will be entitled to preschool education services."

Legault has stressedthatpre-K won't be compulsory and that the public daycare system will continue to play an importantrole in the province.

As it stands, pre-Kclassesare available onlyin schools in areas that qualify as low-income.

If passed, Bill 5 would also require the service to be offered by "all school boards according to the general framework provided for in the Education Act."

The government intends to open 250 new pre-kindergarten classes for four-year-olds as of the start of thefall 2019 school year.

For Montreal's English school boards, that will mean 19 new classes for Lester B. Pearson school board and 13 new ones for the EMSB.

Petition calls for investing in current system

The Quebec council of early childhood education services (CQSEPE), which aims to improve educational services ofdaycaresacross the province,isworking with the daycare workers' union (FIPEQ-CSQ)to ensuremore parents sign the petition before the March 12 deadline.

The petition calls on the government tofocus instead on improving the current daycare system making it better and more accessible.

The government should, the petition says, be ensuringkids have the "essential skills for successful entry into school at age five."

PQ MNAVroniqueHivonwill submit the petition to the National Assembly in March.

Quebec's daycare centres already "do an amazing job," she told reportersafter the Sunday news conference.

"The government is saying they will give free choice," she said. "What real choice is there when you put all the investments in the school system and not one dollar has been announced yet for the [daycares]?"

Hivon saidthere are other needs within the daycare system that need to be addressed before such large sums of money are invested ina new program.

ValrieGrenon, president of theFIPEQ-CSQ, cited a recentLger Marketing study that found most parents prefer the province'spublic daycare system over the proposedpre-Kclasses.

"For us it's clear that the CAQ must listen to the population," Grenon said.

Better ways to invest?

LiberalMNA JenniferMaccaronesaid Sunday that there are better ways tospend the $400 to $700 million needed to offer pre-K to all four-year-olds in the province.

"Is this really the strategic investment we want to make when we have no roomin our schools," said Maccarone, the former president of theQuebec English School Boards Association(QESBA).

"We need new schools. We have schools that need renovations. And our parents have said, only one out offive is interested in registering their child in four-year-old pre-K."

"If you put lipstick on a pig, it is still a pig,"Maccaronesaid."We need back up and say, is this really where we need to spend our money today?"

EMSBchair Angela Mancinitold CBC that schools in the west end are over capacity, but schools in the city's east end would be able to accommodatefour-year-old pre-Kclasses if properly funded.

There is already a network of daycares meeting the needs of four-year-olds in the province, she added, but there are primary schools across the province the need investment.

Roberge defends plan

Education Minister Jean-FranoisRoberge told Radio-Canada on Sunday that the plan to add hundreds of new pre-K classes to the public school system will not take away from daycares.

The province will continue to expand the public daycare system, building new centresin the future, he said.

Quebec has been going through a "small baby boom," he said, and the province will soon be facing aninflux of kids, aged zero to fouryears old, who need daycare spots.

If parents choose to send their children to primary school when they turn four,Roberge saidthere will be teachers and assistants in place to provide the needed pre-K service under the proposed plan.