Quebec City – A Quebec high school French exam question that asked students about adapting to climate change has drawn a torrent of online criticism, as…
Quebec City
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A Quebec high school French exam question that asked students about adapting to climate change has drawn a torrent of online criticism, as teens used memes and videos to denounce what they see as government inaction on climate issues.
A French exam for 11th-grade students at Mont-Ste-Anne School in Beaupre, 40 kilometers northeast of Quebec City asked the question: “Can we adapt to climate change?”
The question drew the ire of many students because of the way it was worded, like 17-year-old Francis Claude. The young man, like quite a number of his peers, took the way the question was phrased to mean the government has decided to just accept climate change.
“It’s like they want to abandon the fight against climate change, and just make do and adapt,” said Claude, whose Facebook group dedicated to the exam has exploded to almost 37,000 members in recent days, reports CTV News Canada.
Students take part in a “Youth For Climate” demonstration, urging pupils to skip classes to protest against a lack of climate awareness, on April 12,2019, in Lyon France
ROMAIN LAFABREGUE, AFP/File
Claude stressed that his generation is dedicated to fighting climate change and not just sitting back and adapting to the resultant impacts. “What’s the point of studying for a future we’re not going to have?” said Claude.
Global News reports that Claude started the Facebook page as a sort of meeting place for Quebec students to share jokes and memes about the exam, however, the page has grown into an environmental forum that allows students to vent their anger at the government and its apparent inaction on climate change.
Claude finds it rather ironic that Quebec schools are testing them on climate change at all. “I couldn’t believe that they’d dare to give us that question when we are the ones who are most concerned with climate change,” he said.
