(Quebec) The Legault government will present a second bill on school governance in three years. An “admission of failure”, according to the official opposition.

Education Minister Bernard Drainville hinted Tuesday that he would legislate to make school service centers more efficient and accountable.

He expressed his dissatisfaction with the service centers, however created by his party in 2020, while he was hounded in the study of appropriations by Liberal MP Marwah Rizqy.

It recounted the case of a parent outraged at having to pay more than $1,000 a year for his child to have access to school transportation and lunch service at public school.

Parents dissatisfied with the fees billed must turn to their school service centers and request a revision of the fee schedule, replied the Minister.

You have to know how to assign responsibility to the right decision-maker, he grumbled.

“It’s as if, as soon as there is a problem somewhere in a school […], it should always be the minister who ultimately has to answer for everything, at all times, on everything that happens “, he denounced.

“We’re going to have to change the culture around how school service centers operate. Service centers will have to be more and more accountable for their decisions.

“The law says that the general managers of the service centers are the official spokespersons of the body, although it is up to them to speak up and explain their decisions! ” he added.

In addition, on the subject of specialized resources for children with special needs, Mr. Drainville deplored the shortcomings at the level of school service centres.

“Currently, this data is in the hands of school service centers,” he said. I wish I could get access to data much faster and more efficiently.

“I invite the member for Saint-Laurent to remain very attentive. We will have things to say on this subject soon, ”he added.

In February 2020, the Legault government adopted under gag order Bill 40 replacing school boards with elected officials accountable to service centers.

Since then, he has been “very critical of his own creation,” said PQ MP Pascal Bérubé. “What did we gain with Bill 40? What are the advantages we have in the school network? he asked.

In addition, Bernard Drainville said he was “open to thinking” about the possibility of drafting a national directive on the use of cell phones at school.

Mr. Bérubé pointed out to him that virtually all students these days have a smartphone, and that it is often a source of distraction.

“There is no national policy on it, underlined the elected representative of Matane-Matapédia. Would the Minister be prepared to think about this question so that at least there are national guidelines? »

According to Mr. Drainville, school boards have set up “codes of life” which stipulate that students must leave their smartphones outside of the classroom.

“There are schools that have already regulated the use of smart phones,” he said. Would I be open to having a guideline that applies to all schools? I’m open to thinking about it. »