Dozens of spots still available in pre-K classes across Quebec
Some school boards in the province are having problems filling spots for the new pre-kindergarten classes they'll offer next fall and have extended the registration period.
Last February, the Legault government authorized 250 more pre-kindergarten classes for 2019-2020, bringing the provincewide total to 644.
At least six students are needed to open a class. The maximum in any class is 17.
Many boards start their registration blitz in March. Radio-Canada recently contacted all the province's school boards, and of the ones that replied, most are still accepting students.
In the Quebec City region, dozens of spots are still available. For example, the Kamouraska–Rivière-du-Loup school board, which serves the Lower St. Lawrence region, was supposed to go from six pre-K classes to 24 in September.
"Eighteen more classes, that's beyond our capacity and the demand from parents," said spokesperson Éric Choinière.
The board has enough students enrolled to create 11 new classes — and fewer than half of them will be full to capacity, he said.
Situation differs based on geography
It's the same story at both the René-Lévesque and Saint-Hyacinthe school boards, which serve the Gaspé and Montérégie regions respectively — neither will have enough students to fill all the classes they have been authorized to open.
Karine St-Germain, director of educational services at the Saint-Hyacinthe school board, said there is a discrepancy between the schools in cities versus the ones that are outside cities.
The classes in city schools will be full, she said, but the ones outside the cities will not.
In Montreal, not as many classes were added due to a lack of classroom space, so many pre-K classes are already full. The Commission scolaire de Laval isn't adding any new classes because it, too, has so little space.
Education Minister Jean-François Roberge said it is normal that the sign-up periods are being extended, and he is confident all the additional classes that were authorized will be open by September.
He gave the example of the New Frontiers School Board, which had seven pre-K classes and was authorized to open six more. Those classes filled up days after they opened.
He said the issue is more about publicity than demand.
"I think people who know the spaces are available are running to them. We need to inform parents that there are some spaces available near their home."
The promise of universal pre-K featured heavily in the Coalition Avenir Québec's election campaign, but the plan has been controversial from the start, with opposition leaders and daycares saying it's not needed.
Premier François Legault has said the changes would bring Quebec in line with Ontario and New York and "most of the places in Europe," where school begins at age four.
He acknowledged that the project is controversial but said it is the best thing for Quebec's children.
