Quebec outlines curriculum for revamped ethics and culture course – Montreal

Quebec is unveiling particulars of a brand new course supposed to interchange a polarizing class on ethics and spiritual tradition that’s been taught within the province’s faculties for greater than a decade.

Schooling Minister Jean-Francois Roberge launched highlights of the brand new program, dubbed Tradition and Citizenship in Quebec, at a information convention on Sunday afternoon.

Roberge says the brand new course will train Quebec college students how one can be proud members of Quebec society and can embrace sections on the province’s judicial system, important pondering, social media and gender equality amongst others.

Roberge mentioned the category goals to supply cohesion in addition to battle in opposition to sexism, racism and sexual violence.

It is going to substitute the present program that has been in place since 2008 and has confronted years of relentless criticism from Quebec nationalists and dedicated secularists, who say the course put an excessive amount of emphasis on multiculturalism.

Indigenous historical past and tradition can even be included within the curriculum. In keeping with an announcement from Indigenous Affairs Minister Ian Lafrenière, members of the First Nations and Inuit communities have been concerned within the session course of.

However whereas the federal government claims it’ll embrace all cultures, some members of the anglophone neighborhood aren’t so positive.

“He’s not going to impose on us what our language and our tradition is all about,” says English Montreal Faculty Board Chair Joe Ortona, who additionally known as the brand new course contradictory.

“If he actually needs to guard freedom of expression, he ought to take a superb take a look at a few of the payments he handed that used the however clause to violate freedom of expression,” added Ortona.

The brand new program shall be launched in some faculties as a pilot challenge in September 2022 earlier than being totally carried out throughout the entire province’s elementary and excessive faculties a yr later.