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Exam question on climate change draws anger, memes from Quebec students

May 7, 2019 | 2:05 AM

MONTREAL — Quebec high school students are criticizing a question on a government-administered French exam that asked them if society can adapt to the effects of climate change.

Seventeen-year-old group founder Francis Claude says the way the question was phrased suggests the government has accepted climate change, when what young people want is concrete action to fight it.

A Facebook group dedicated to last week’s Grade 11 ministry exam has since grown to almost 37,000 members, with many of them using memes and photos to denounce what they see as government inaction on environmental issues.

Education Minister Jean-Francois Roberge reacted on Twitter last week, saying it would have been better had the exam asked students how to fight climate change, rather than how to adapt to it.

He also told the legislature that it’s a positive sign to see so many young people ready to mobilize around such an important issue.

The controversy comes as tens of thousands of students across Quebec and Canada have been staging demonstrations and school strikes in recent months as part of a global youth-led movement to demand action on environmental issues.

 

The Canadian Press