Quebec's high school graduation rate has long been criticized, most recently by former premier Lucien Bouchard, who this week said that the province needs to deal with the dropout rate.
Now Quebec's Federation of Chambers of Commerce wants to do its share to help students finish high school with a diploma.
The first initiative: asking member companies to limit working hours for students.
The Federation believes that the quick cash delivered by part-time jobs can interfere with a student's desire to graduate, even though students who finish high school make $15,000 more each year than dropouts.
As a result, the Federation wants companies to pledge that student employees will work no more than 16 hours each week, and never work past ten o'clock on school nights,
"so they can really do a good balance in their lives between their studies and their work," said Francoise Bertrand.
Meanwhile Economic Development Minister Clement Gignac wants companies to prove their social responsibility.
"At the next annual meeting, companies will disclose if they in fact agree with the principles of the chamber of commerce," said Gignac.
The minister, and the Federation, hope companies will abide by this principle even as the number of workers shrinks.
They point to Alberta, where thousands of students dropped out during an oil boom, only to lose their jobs when the economy shrank, as an example of what not to do.
"They all had great jobs," said Anne Marie Huburt of Ernst and Young. "Now we're in a recession. They don't know how to read, they don't know how to count, they don't know how to team, so they can't function in our society."
The minister hopes that by taking this step, 3,000 fewer students will drop out of high school.
