French test: The donkey in front of the river

The proverb says: “You can lead a donkey to the river, but you cannot make it drink.”

When someone is truly stubborn, convinced that their opinion is the only truth, and closed off to any real question, there is nothing that can be done.

Shipwreck

Daphne Dion Viens tells us that future teachers at primary and secondary levels, who must pass a French language exam, are increasingly failing.

This year, the success rate on the first attempt was only 44% at the University of Montreal.

This is the highest rate among the universities whose results the journalist reports to us!

It was 39% at Université Laval, 29.3% at UQAC and 23.3% at UQAR!

It's not just very weak. It has also declined over the past few years.

Many students have to repeat it three, four, or even five times!

At Laval University, for those taking the test for the fifth time, the pass rate is only 54%!

54%! On the fifth try!

And then they will go and teach!

And since there's not much left that's really their fault, they'll have plenty of time, between two failures, to blame the French language itself, which is “terribly” complex and twisted, and which is also undoubtedly deeply patriarchal and elitist.

To help them, take into account their “anxiety”, their “mental health”, and also, of course, to obtain less disastrous statistics, our little rabbits will be entitled, during the following tests – at least this is the recommendation given by the “experts” to the government – to use… Debugging programs.

This will also be a new test.

Since it is not possible to say that it will be easier, we will say that it is “more adapted to the new reality” or something like that.

This is all disastrous, quite simply.

The manager cited by the journalist would prefer to see “alarming” results.

What would it take to describe it as “troubling”?

Now, dear reader, the question that kills: How do we explain this continuous decline?

Come on, push yourself a little. you do not see? It starts with the letter “A” and ends with the letter “H”.

If you said “pandemic,” you won.

Self-criticism

From now on, the pandemic explains everything or almost everything in Quebec. It is like the Holy Spirit.

It also explains the current heat wave.

But how can we explain differences from one institution to another when the pandemic affects them all?

What if we wondered about the quality of accepted students, about teaching the French language starting at the primary level, about the quality of the training provided in colleges of education?

What if our “experts” were a little too critical of themselves?

But no, I told you: The donkey is in front of the river, but he does not want to drink.