New compulsory French courses to be offered to thousands of young people, new priority for the historic English-speaking minority in English-speaking CEGEPs: Bill 14 (former Bill 96) amending the Charter of the French language brings a commotion in many cegeps.
How will the prioritization be articulated? To what extent will Francophones or Allophones be turned away, even with the desired grades? (In Anglophone CEGEPs, only 40% of students are of Anglophone stock.)
At Dawson College, even though the prioritization does not come into effect until the winter of 2024, “we are working with English-speaking CEGEPs in Montreal to ensure that, even for […] Fall 2023, no student with an eligibility certificate will be without a place in an English-language CEGEP. This does not, however, guarantee them entry into their program of choice,” says Christina Parsons, Communications Advisor.
Anglophones will therefore all have their place, but without being ahead by their status alone of another young person who has better grades in a given quota program.
Lauriane Chénier, currently in 5e high school, hopes for her part to be admitted to science at John Abbott, in the west of Montreal.
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Lauriane Chénier, visiting John Abbott CEGEP during the open house
“I speak French at home, but I find that writing English is easier. French grammar is not my forte. »
“French is part of our DNA and it remains our language, but bilingualism is always an advantage,” says her mother, Anne Mantha, who is delighted that video games have at least made her daughter very fluent in English.
French lessons to be set up
But Lauriane Chénier knows it: she will be in the first cohort of young Francophones attending an Anglophone CEGEP who will now have to take the compulsory French test towards the end of their college career.
In order for their students to succeed, English-speaking CEGEPs must quickly set up, in a few months, three new French courses for the thousands of Francophones who attend them.
The deadlines are more than extremely tight, there is gnashing of teeth in several CEGEPs.
Bernard Tremblay, President and CEO of the Fédération des cégeps
The deadline for entries is 1er March and we still don’t have the quotes for French lessons. It’s too fast, ”denounces Yves de Repentigny, vice-president of the National Federation of Teachers of Quebec (FNEEQ-CSN).
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, ARCHIVES SPECIAL COLLABORATION
The Vice-President of the National Federation of Teachers of Quebec (FNEEQ-CSN), Yves de Repentigny
From 2024, other compulsory courses will also be added – this time, for English-speaking students. In this case, it will be a question of introducing courses – sciences, history or others – which must be given in French.
Hiring… and job losses?
President of the Union of Teachers of Champlain College in Lennoxville (affiliated with the CSQ), Brigitte Robert believes that at her CEGEP, there will be hiring new French teachers, but also perhaps job losses for some who have a precarious status, since complementary courses will skip over to make way for French courses.
Those who have always taught their subject in English also fear, evokes Mme Robert, to have to reappropriate all the technical terms of their field in another language.
The teachers are worried, the students too, summarizes Mme Robert, “because it is notorious that the compulsory French test at CEGEP is difficult and has high failure rates” compared to its English equivalent.
All this remains far from the concerns of Jade Ganong and her family, for whom geographical proximity (and the stress of the physical tests to pass to enter police techniques) is far more central than the question of language. Even though Jade is only in 4e secondary school, the family already attends the open doors of CEGEPs. “I manage in English, that doesn’t worry me. »
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
For Jade Ganong, the important thing will be to be admitted to police techniques near her home.
What worries her and her family from Coteau-du-Lac much more is that if she is not accepted at the English-speaking CEGEP near her home, she will have to go all the way to Montreal to study police techniques. .
It is impossible to know to what extent the changes related to the Charter of the French language will modify the attractiveness of CEGEPs in English. But Maya Labrosse, president of the Quebec College Student Federation, believes that “the prestige” that is associated with the idea of studying in English, even today, will continue to be prevalent, “like that of going to McGill” next.