[Opinion] For a greener school curriculum

As you should know, Mr. Minister of Education, Bernard Drenville, environmental issues are addressed very little throughout the education of young people, from pre-school to the end of secondary school, even though these topics are fundamental.

On this note, the Environmental Issues Education Committee was formed a year ago to start consulting with young people from Year 5 from primary school to college.

The result is clear: a curriculum review should be initiated, starting with the Science and Technology Curriculum Review, in order to update specific content that addresses issues that have been studied and confirmed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Evolution (IPCC), whether they relate to, or For example, climate change, biodiversity loss, ocean health, or air quality.

We believe these changes should be mandatory at all levels of education. This observation was made by 1580 pupils and students. This is 70.3% of students surveyed in elementary school, 59.6% in high school and 70% in college. They all think that schools should provide more lessons on environmental issues.

In addition, we noticed that a large number of respondents said they feel anxious about these questions. Almost 70.1% in elementary school, 72.7% in high school, and 96.8% in college say they feel anxious. They also see a lack of information and tools to manage these feelings. It must therefore be concluded that the current lack of training will only in the long term exacerbate the level of anxiety among the population and the sense of helplessness that often accompanies it.

You know it as well as we do, Minister: there is an urgent need for action. It is in this context that we share these results with you. We believe it is essential to revise science and technology curricula, from pre-school to the last year of high school. Our committee has thought about solutions, which is why it seems important for us to meet with you to discuss these findings and the education offered to Quebec youth.