Under the provisions of the new Charter of the French language, financial penalties will be imposed at the start of the school year on English-speaking CEGEPs if they do not respect the maximum number of students. The Fédération des cégeps denounces a “drastic” approach and calls for more flexibility.
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Starting in 2023-2024, the number of places in English-speaking CEGEPs will be permanently frozen: CEGEPs will not be able to accommodate more students.
Since the demographic growth will be absorbed by the French-speaking establishments, this measure will make it possible over the years to reduce the proportion of CEGEP students who attend the English-speaking network, provides Quebec.
The Legault government recently announced in a draft regulation the penalties that will be imposed on English-speaking CEGEPs if they exceed the number of students allowed: approximately $7,000 for the first 50 students and nearly $14,100 for the others.
For the year 2023-2024, only the first level will be in effect.
At the Fédération des cégeps, we reiterate that we agree with the limits imposed, but we are asking for more time and flexibility to comply with them.
“As soon as there is a ceiling that is set for admissions to English-speaking colleagues, we understand that there is a mechanism to ensure that this limit is respected. But the admissions process is something sensitive, fragile and you have to go about it with flexibility,” argues its president and CEO, Bernard Tremblay.
Attending college is not an exact science, he explains.
To determine the number of new students that can be admitted each year, it is necessary to be able to predict how many students already enrolled will continue their studies the following year.
However, this data varies from one year to another depending on the failure rate, but also depending on sometimes very personal reasons.
“It’s a fairly difficult exercise,” says Mr. Tremblay, who calls for a more gradual approach.
“Drastic” approach
The penalties imposed at the start of the school year come too quickly since the vagueness still persists on certain issues, in particular the status to be granted to Aboriginal students who have been educated in English.
“We are disappointed to see that we are betting on an approach that is still quite drastic. We would have liked it to be spread over a longer period,” he said.
The latter recalls that English-speaking CEGEPs will be “doubled” penalized for exceeding the permitted limit: they will not receive funding for additional students, in addition to the financial penalty that will be imposed on them.
“We have to do it properly to ensure that it doesn’t leave any scars on our students. Students should not find themselves on the floor because they would not find a place, ”he adds.