The Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, asked her ministry for a “state of the situation” in the face of “allegations which are worrying” at the Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe.
The duty reported Wednesday that there is a tense climate at CEGEP between employees and management. The academic committee is at the center of a controversy, the turnover of managers is criticized and professors in the computer science department are concerned about the high dropout and failure rates among their students.
“There are allegations that are concerning. It concerns the success rate, the graduation. There really is a climate that seems to be tense. I asked for a report on the situation from the ministry, I am awaiting the results and we will see what happens,” said the minister, when questioned on this subject in a scrum with the press. It was Wednesday morning that she became aware of the situation, following the report by the Duty.
Teachers reject mediation
In a press release, the CEGEP union indicated that it wanted to offer “its full collaboration” so that the minister “obtains a complete report of the situation”. “The teaching staff wants to rediscover the climate of listening and dialogue that once existed at the college. We want the conflict to be settled, quickly, for the good of the student population, ”said Selma Bennani, president of the Syndicate of teachers at Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe.
The teachers, who were nearly 130 at the general meeting on Wednesday, also unanimously rejected the request for mediation sent by management on April 18. “In an interview with Duty this morning, the current management seems to refuse any introspection; she denies the assertions of several teachers, minimizes the tensions, accuses our union and rejects our outstretched hand, says Selma Bennani. It would have been desirable for our management to act in such a way as to unite the troops for the good of the entire college community”.
Invited to react, the Fédération des cégeps indicated that it did not want to comment on “the case of a particular cégep”.
With Marie-Michele Sioui