(Montreal) The training of students arriving at CEGEP is not at the level at which it should normally be, a “perverse effect” of the pandemic, estimates the Federation of College Education (FEC-CSQ).
Updated at 12:20 a.m.
“Over the past few years, many students have gone through high school with lower expectations. There have been no failures, there are diplomas that have been awarded, but without [que les élèves] reach the usual expected thresholds. Everything had been put down, “said Youri Blanchet, president of the Federation of Collegial Education (FEC-CSQ), in a press briefing on Monday.
In CEGEP classes, “it feels,” continues Mr. Blanchet.
We feel a decline in the quality of the student profession.
Youri Blanchet, President of the FEC-CSQ
“The ability to study: being able to do research, pay attention in class, take notes. That too is an observation that is shared [par les profs] “, says the president of the union.
As a result, “teachers organize themselves to give additional lessons to teach the subject,” he says.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Youri Blanchet, president of the FEC-CSQ, Éric Gingras, president of the CSQ, Valérie Fontaine, president of the FPSES-CSQ, and Éric Cyr, president of the FPPC-CSQ
The president of the Federation of higher education support staff (FPSES-CSQ), Valérie Fontaine, observes that the reality is the same at the university.
“Students who were in college had online courses. […] What college staff experience compared to high school students, we also experience at university compared to college students,” said Ms.me Fountain.
No shortage in college, assures Quebec
The Central Trade Unions of Quebec (CSQ) and its affiliated unions in the college sector argued Monday that the staff shortage does not only affect primary and secondary schools.
The union is not able to quantify the extent of the shortage in the college network, but assures that in certain CEGEPs, the situation is “very, very worrying”, in particular in the computer science, pharmacy or medical care.
In the office of the Minister of Higher Education Danielle McCann, it is indicated that we have so far “a rather different echo from the different college establishments”.
“The labor situation in the network is no different from that of previous years. We were also not alerted to [potentielles ruptures] of services for the start of the fall 2022 school year,” said Valérie Chamula, the minister’s press attaché.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Éric Gingras, president of the CSQ, during a press conference on Monday
As negotiations approach for the renewal of the collective agreements, the CSQ and its federations are calling on the government to improve the working conditions and salaries of their members in order to create real attractiveness and promote staff retention.
The public sector was once considered the hard fat of society, where it was good to go to work throughout one’s career. That time is over, and that, I think the last few years have demonstrated.
Eric Gingras, President of the CSQ
“This year, our members received a 2% salary increase while inflation is high and will perhaps be around 8% for the year once again,” observed Mr. Gingras.
The union leaders, however, were careful not to go so far as to say that they would demand increases of this order, affirming that consultations with their members were still in progress, as with their colleagues on the common front including the CSN and the FTQ.
With The Canadian Press