Québec Education System - Explanation and Comparison

(中文)

In Canada (and the USA), education is a competency of each Province, which can implement their school systems as they see fit. The Québec education is unique in North America (and maybe in the world?) by its division into three sectors and by its division of into three schools.

Québec divides schools in primary schools, secondary school, and CÉGEPs. While primary and secondary schools in Québec are quite similar to those in the rest of Canada, Québec has CÉGEPs or Collège d’Enseignement Général Et Professionnel. CÉGEPs are publicly funded colleges with technical, academic, and-or vocational programs. CÉGEPs grant diplomas of college studies (Diplôme d'études collégiales in French, known as DEC) required to enter universities in Quebec (except for mature student).

CÉGEPs were created in 1967 to promote the access to higher education of Quebecers, in particular French-speaking Quebecers, who had been until then discriminated by the English-speaking higher education system. They were also created to reduce the difference between urban Quebecers and Quebecers leaving in the “regions” of Québec, who typically had to go to Québec city or Montréal to receive such an education. CÉGEPs greatly improved the overall education level of Quebecers and access to universities. Hence, they improved social equality and education.

The impact of CÉGEPs is positive since their creation in 1967. In the 1960s, Québec has only 13% of its youth finishing Secondary and 4% the university. Since then, these numbers increased dramatically: in 2022, 41% of women and 32% of men have a university diploma. 91% of students graduating a CÉGEP will go to a university. For the students not going to a university, 88% find a job after graduation.

The introduction of CÉGEPs and the overall Québec education system are quite similar but not identical of the education systems in the rest of Canada. The following table summarises the mapping between different systems, based on the students’ ages:

Québec also divides schools in three sectors: public, public with special programs, and private, which is called the three-speed school system. All sectors receive funds from the Québec government, but special programs and private schools receive more. Special programs receive extra funds from the government while private school can levy tuitions fees. Public schools must welcome any student who register and cannot refuse any student. Hence, the three-speed school system: while public school receive fewer funds and must accept any student, special program can choose students, while private schools can choose students and ask for tuition fees.

Thus, private schools can attract students based on the quality of their educational environments and discriminate based on the students’ grades and their parents’ wealth. Special program can attract students based on the quality of their educational environment and discriminate based on the students’ grades. Public schools must accept everybody.

This division makes for an unfair system in which the public schools must “competition” with special programs and, more importantly, private schools, with all receiving the same funds from the Québec government. This unfairness is reflected in the ranking of secondary schools. This table shows a ranking of the top secondary schools in Montréal[1]:

Recently, the Quebec government introduced Bill 96: “An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec” to support the learning of the French language in CÉGEPs. Until then, any student could apply to any CÉGEPs and be selected by the CÉGEPs based on their grades. Now, English-speaking CÉGEPs must respect quotas in their admission of French-speaking students, typically lower than that of English-speaking students. They must also provide more classes of French and in French. Consequently, a French-speaking student may have less chance to be admitted to an English-speaking CÉGEP than an English-speaking student with equal grades.

Sources: Wikipedia, https://www.ledevoir.com/societe/education/791639/education-l-ecole-a-trois-vitesses-n-est-pas-une-ideologie-estiment-des-professeurs, https://www.ledevoir.com/culture/788637/documentaire-l-ecole-autrement-un-appel-a-l-action-face-a-l-ecole-a-trois-vitesses, https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/idees/791669/idees-un-systeme-d-education-devenu-indefendable, https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/idees/802713/idees-oui-notre-systeme-educatif-presente-disparites-importantes, https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/report-card-on-quebecs-secondary-schools-2023

[1]Unfortunately, the “Report Card on Quebec’s Secondary Schools 2023” does not describe the method used to compute the ranking. It is impossible to assess/reproduce the method. The ranking must be taken at face value.