RETROSPECTIVE ON THE PARENT REPORT

Abstract

The creation of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Education in 1961 proved to be one of the major events of Quebec's political and social revolution. The publication of its Report, commonly referred to as the Parent Report after the chairman, Mgr. Alphonse Parent, launched an educational reform which in its essential features continues to the present time. Mgr. Parent, who died in October of 1970, was of the opinion that the implementation of the Report's recommendations would require a period of from ten to fifteen years. It would seem to be an appropriate time, then, for an inventory of the results as seen by the Commissioners themselves and by some key personnel in provincial educational policy-making. Essentially, we have attempted, through a series of interviews, to ascertain their views on the validity of the Parent Report's proposals and the progress made toward achieving its goals. Five of the Commissioners were available for interviews, and to extend our perspective further, we have also interviewed four educational leaders in the Province who were not members of the Commission.