On August 28, 2024, the minister of education decided that the “déboulage” would no longer exist. They took this decision because it contravenes the political regime and the law of public education.
In June 2023, the “déboulage” allowed 513 students, who had failed their French course in their fourth year of secondary school, to obtain the units needed to pass the same course a year later.
“Déboulage en éducation” mainly allowed high school students in the second cycle, who failed certain subjects, to get the units they needed to pass and get to the upper level.
At the end of the school year of 2024-2025, “déboulage” will no longer be allowed. The students who are failing will need to take the necessary steps to ensure their success and earn the units they need to pass their year. There are a few options, like taking a summer class, retaking an exam, or repeating the program during the following year.
For example, if a student is in secondary 3 and is failing French, but he passes all the other subjects and is not able to take a summer class, the student would still go into secondary 4 but would stay in secondary 3 for the French class. If that happens, it would get problematic because when the student gets to secondary 5 but has a secondary 4 French class, he would need one more year to pass his secondary 5 French class.
Unfortunately, there is no more time to get that class because after secondary 5, it is CEGEP, so it is really confusing, and nobody knows what would happen in that case.
However, for an exceptional reason, it would be possible to make a student pass their year and go to the upper level despite their failure due to extreme circumstances. For example, if someone has a serious health problem or has experienced a tragic event, they would be able to pass their year event, though they failed it.
“The minister has always said that student success is his priority and that standards would never be lowered. That’s why, after asking all the necessary questions about this practice, he decided to put an end to it,” said Antoine de la Durantaye.
This new measure is going to affect the groups because someone could have French in secondary 5, art in secondary 3, and history in secondary 4. It is going to get really confusing; teachers and students are wondering how it is going to work. It is also going to get complicated to make the schedules.
