Filling the Gaps in the Education System with Campus Agora
Working from this premise, Benoit Bernier and Sonia Lombart, co-founders of Déclic, are launching Campus Agora. Their project, a Maison de l’innovation sociale Civic Incubator winner in 2022 , is a special-education school and student housing for young people coming from youth facilities or the DPJ, who, at age 19, account for just 24.8 percent who have earned a high school diploma, compared with 77.4% in Quebec overall.¹
With the mission to give these young people equitable opportunities for social integration, Campus Agora is designed like a university campus and will provide a centralized range of services to support the transition to adulthood: schooling, vocational training, customized individual follow-up, support for socio-professional integration and housing.
Transforming services to meet the challenges faced by young people
In this video clip, Sonia and Benoit explain the impact of service gaps in the process of integrating vulnerable young adults and the need for the systemic and interdisciplinary approach applied by Campus Agora.
“Everyone who is able to learn – and so many are – should have access to education. But some are being denied that access because their needs are too complex. We consider it absolutely unbelievable, unacceptable, to lose so many young people each year.” — Sonia
¹ Goyette, M., Solis, A., Esposito, T. et Hélie, S. (2016) – Les coûts de la sous-scolarisation des jeunes placés
Listen to Fannie Bussières McNicoll’s report on Radio-Canada, Le projet du Campus Agora pour les jeunes décrocheurs issus de la DPJ, also available in text format (in French).
