Quebec: Youth - Education and Culture
Quebec’s 1992 Cultural Policy made establishing links between education and culture a paramount objective. One of the guidelines is to improve arts and culture awareness and education. School is identified as an excellent way to access culture.
The Protocole d’entente interministériel Culture-Éducation, which unites the MEES and the MCC, stems from the Cultural Policy. The protocol was signed in 1997 and updated in 2013. Its purpose is to strengthen collaboration in school and cultural settings as well as integrate culture into school.
Colleges also contribute to developing Quebec’s cultural potential by the training professional development courses they offer in artistic and cultural fields. The internationalization of Quebec students’ training is supported through the Artistic and cultural college training international exchange support program (link available in French only), which offers financial support to public and private educational institutions to organize short-term international exchanges in artistic and cultural fields.
The MEES also offers the Promotion de l’enseignement collégial : productions étudiantes (link available in French only) program, which aims to help carry out special projects in certain fields, notably literature and the arts, through extra-curricular activities related to the student’s program of study or development. The objectives of this measure are to develop the student’s skills and creativity as well as help showcase colleges in their community.
Lastly, the CMADQ includes seven music schools as well as two drama schools. Its mission is to offer quality training.
The Culture in the Schools program is one of the measures of the Protocole Culture-Éducation. Its objective is to produce citizens who are actively involved in cultural life by increasing the number of cultural experiences offered to pre-school, elementary school and secondary school students through collaboration with resources listed in the Répertoire de ressources culture-éducation (available in French only), which includes artists, writers and cultural organizations. Financial assistance is offered to schools to support them in carrying out these projects.
The program has two components:
- Cultural workshops at school: This component makes it possible for artists to share their creative process with students during an in-class workshop.
- Schools host an artist: Since 2013, this component has offered professional artists the opportunity to spend 4‑12 weeks in a school environment and find inspiration for their own creative pursuits, while allowing students to participate in a project involving artistic exploration.
The MEES also provides financial support to school board’s cultural committees who promote integrating culture into schools. In addition, February has been designated Cultural Activities Month and is an ideal time to hold activities to stimulate young people to undertake cultural projects that can be carried out in a subject taught at school.
The MCC offers the Mesure de concertation régionale en culture-éducation, which supports field trips to professional cultural organizations so that students can be introduced to culture outside of school and develop a taste in young people for professional cultural spaces.
The CMADQ administers music and drama schools for professional training as well as professional development for performers and creators. It is the only state-owned institution in North America that offers ongoing music training from the elementary school level up to the graduate level.
As part of the Culture in the Schools program, 386,691 students participated in activities at school in 2012-2013. During that same year, 534,589 students participated in field trips. In 2014-2015, 32 projects were funded through the Schools host an artist program.
In 2014-2015, 16 projects were supported through the Promotion de l’enseignement collegial : productions étudiantes, which reached students at 72 colleges. For example, one project, Cégeps en spectacle, is a student contest with objectives notably to put college students in contact with various performance trades.
In 2013-2014, 68 students participated in exchanges through the Artistic and cultural college training international exchange support program. Through those projects, Quebec students participated in an improv tournament at the Festival des Lycéens d’Aquitaine in France with students from Germany, Italy, Romania and France.
The CMADQ admits about 800 music students and 75 drama students every year. It actively contributes to developing Quebec’s culture. The visibility of the school, in addition to the visibility of its teachers as well as past and present students, demonstrates the calibre of training it offers. The CMADQ contributes to regional and national vitality in several ways, notably through:
- the CMADQ’s participation and involvement in youth orchestras from various areas of Quebec;
- collaboration and partnerships with elementary and secondary schools to carry out musical projects for young people (concert band, etc.).
It would be impossible to present all the financial resources dedicated to culture and education for young people. Some data have been presented for information purposes.
In 2014-2015, $CAD 117.8K was allocated to the Promotion de l’enseignement collégial : productions étudiantes program.
Nearly $CAD 40K was allocated in 2013-2014 to the Artistic and cultural college training international exchange support program.
The CMADQ also received a nearly $CAD 28M grant from the Government of Quebec in 2014-2015.