Certification of studies 2020-2021

While many members of our association are approaching the end of year with the arrival of warmer weather, some families are engaged in the certification of studies process. A necessary step in obtaining the applicable credits required for a high school diploma.

Courses selected last fall with their school boards, should be evaluated through various means such as remittal of a portfolio, logbook, or a folder of works. In addition, some courses require individualized testing administered by the board, in lieu of the cancelled ministerial exams for this year.

The planned exams have given rise to disagreements: Certain school boards are only willing to consider the single final exam; to be counted as 100% of the grade. These school boards will not consider any student works, even those validated by brevet-holding teachers. Nor have these boards provided appropriate preparation for the required exams. This serves only to accentuate the inequity toward homeschooled learners.

AQED considers this situation unacceptable. Article 34 of the Basic School Regulation of the Education Act stipulates that an end-of-year exam can count for no more than 50% of the grade, the rest being made of works submitted from the student’s year. In non-pandemic times, this is applicable to all Quebec students. Minimally, we’d expect an agreement to be made for valuing the other 50% of the grade, by evaluating work and/or projects completed during the year.

Considering these situations, AQED concludes that the conditions imposed on homeschooled students for the certification of their studies goes against the evaluation policies in effect. Policies which are established by the Minister of Education. This is an unacceptable double standard.

In response, AQED has submitted a letter of complaint, underlining these inequities, to the Minister of Education Mr. François Roberge. Our association has made a clear and simple request, qualified as urgent, that all homeschooled learners be treated on equal footing with other students in Quebec. AQED requested that exams be cancelled and that the final grade be based on the works produced during the year. As is currently the case for all students in Quebec.

We await the reply to our request and will immediately communicate it to our members currently in the certification process.

Please note that the school boards have the option to certify this year’s student coursework in August 2021 as well as in January 2022. If the conditions for evaluation imposed on your child are unfair, it is possible to delay evaluation, in the hopes that an agreement will be negotiated before then.

Also note that for those students who followed courses with Succès Scolaire and/or Étude Secours, they can receive certification directly from them, without needing to go through the school board. It is also possible to sign up for summer courses with these organizations.

Please complete this short survey to help us get a more complete picture of the situation.