Égide Royer, psychologist, specialist in adaptation and academic success, associate professor at the Faculty of Educational Sciences at Laval University.
Professor Royer affirms that the role of a professional order is to protect the public, unlike union organizations, whose primary objective is to protect their members.
A society developed like ours in terms of education should be able to live with a professional order of teachers which supervises the profession and which protects the public, he argues. The question of the quality of education and the quality of the professional action of teachers is not a union question, it is more a question of profession.
M. Royer gives the example of Ontario, where unions and a professional order governing the work of teachers have coexisted since 1997.
The Professional Order is really to protect the public interest, the interest of the students. It's not about protecting the interests of teachers: that's the role of unions.
A quote from Gabrielle Barkany, Ontario College of Teachers
Each year, the order receives hundreds of complaints from its members, the public or school boards against teachers whose behavior or work is deemed reprehensible or questionable.
We receive complaints related to professional incompetence or professional misconduct and we investigate these complaints, explains Gabrielle Barkany.
She affirms that the Order acts as a student protection agency. Whether in our disciplinary decisions or in the granting of a teaching permit, what is at the heart of our decisions is the student and their success.
The union centers have already opposed the creation of such a professional order in Quebec. Simon Landry expects there to be opposition to the project.
There will be resistance. There are people who will say that it is not necessary, that it does nothing, that it is dangerous, he admits.
During the 2012 election, François Legault's CAQ promised to create a professional order before taking power. The group of teachers hopes that their petition will move the Minister of Education.
Natasha Kumar has been a reporter on the news desk since 2018. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining The Times Hub, Natasha Kumar worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my natasha@thetimeshub.in 1-800-268-7116