Quiet Revolution - Secularization

Secularization

The Canadian Constitution of 1867 made education an area of provincial responsibility. Quebec set up a Ministry of Public Instruction in 1868 but abolished it in 1875 under pressure from the Catholic Church. The clergy believed it would be able to provide appropriate teaching to young people and that the province should not interfere. By the early 1960s, there were more than 1,500 school boards, each responsible for its own programs, textbooks and the recognition of diplomas according to its own criteria.

In addition. until the Quiet Revolution, higher education was accessible to only a minority of French Canadians because of the generally low level of formal education and expense involved.

Following World War II, while most of the United States and Canada was enjoying a long period of prosperity and modernization, in Quebec, efforts at modernization were held back by the conservative views of politicians and the Catholic Church's position on education. The level of formal schooling among French Canadians was quite low: only 13% finished Grade 11, as opposed to 36% of English Canadis. One of the most scathing attacks was levelled by Brother Jean-Paul Desbiens, writing under the pseudonym of Frère Untel. The publication of his book Les insolences du Frère Untel (1960) quickly sold over 100,000 copies and has come to be recognized as having important impact on the beginning of the Quiet Revolution.

Alphonse-Marie Parent presided a commission was established in 1961 to study the education system and bring forth recommendations, which eventually led to the adoption of several reforms, the most important of which was secularization of the education system. In 1964 a Ministry of Education was established with Paul Gérin-Lajoie appointed the first Minister of Education since 1875. Although schools maintained their Catholic or Protestant character, in practice they became secular institutions. Reforms included: the age for compulsory schooling was raised from 14 to 16, free schooling until the 11th grade, school boards were reorganized, school curricula were standardized, and classical colleges were replaced with cégeps.

Also during this period the Ministry of Social Affairs was created, which in June 1985 became the Ministry of Health and Social Services, and is responsible for the administration of health and social services in the province.