News Releases

MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC--(Marketwire - Sept. 22, 2011) - L. Jacques Ménard, Chairman of the Groupe d'action sur la persévérance et la réussite scolaires and President of BMO Financial Group, Quebec, Michel Perron, professor at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi and holder of the Chaire UQAC–Cégep de Jonquière sur les conditions de vie, la santé et les aspirations des jeunes (VISAJ), Richard Desjardins, Chairman of the Board of Réunir Réussir (R2), Josée Bouchard, Chairwoman of the Fédération des commissions scolaires du Québec (FCSQ), and Debbie Horrocks, President of the Quebec English School Boards Association, will unveil the program and objectives of the 2nd Rencontres interrégionales sur la persévérance et la réussite scolaires.

The Rencontres, to be held in Quebec City on October 19 and 20, will bring together more than 700 Quebec decision-makers, including the Minister of Education, Recreation and Sports, Line Beauchamp, and the Minister of Health and Social Services, Yves Bolduc. This major gathering is part of the Quebec-wide effort to ensure that, by 2020, 80 per cent of young people under 20 will have a diploma, a goal to be accomplished by mobilizing civil society, local communities and the education community and through initiatives that convey the importance of student success.

About the Groupe d'action sur la persévérance et la réussite scolaires

This action group is formed of 27 representatives from education, the business world, and organizations and experts working in fields related to student retention. The group aims to ensure that action is taken at the provincial and regional levels while relying heavily on direct efforts at the local level in order to build on the initiatives already under way in Quebec. The action group published the Knowledge Is Power report in 2009.