The problem of underfunding of Quebec universities has increased since Maple Spring, to the point of harming the accessibility of studies, worries the president of the Bureau de coopération interuniversitaire, Pierre Cossette.
The rectors urge the Quebec government to reinvest, over the next five years, no less than a billion dollars per year in university establishments, without raising the student bill. “There is no appetite at all among rectors to return to the tuition fee formula”, underlines Pierre Cossette in an interview with The duty. “It’s a debate that is closed for a long time,” he adds.
The rector of the Université de Sherbrooke — and former dean of its Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (2010-2017) — remembers well the “cleavage” between sympathizers and opponents over the unlimited general strike against the increase in tuition fees that the Charest government was preparing in 2012.
That said, the question of the accessibility of higher education — around which hundreds of thousands of Quebecers rallied 10 years ago — still arises, but differently, argues Pierre Cossette. “The students who attend university today are a much more heterogeneous group than 20 years ago and a little more heterogeneous than 10 years ago. There are many people with special needs [ou qui ont entrepris une démarche] qualification or requalification”, and which require “more personalized support”, he points out in anticipation of the presentation of the Quebec Budget 2022-2023.
Growing funding requested
Clearly, the universities are asking for an increase in their “global envelope” of one billion per year within five years, including an additional 365 million as of the 2022-2023 financial year.
They echo the current demands of student associations, believes Pierre Cossette. Ten years after Maple Spring, students are urging university administrators to improve “student life”, in particular by supporting more mental health initiatives, in addition to reducing “the size of groups” and encouraging ” more active forms of pedagogy”.
“Increasing, predictable and sustainable funding” for universities will make it possible, in particular, to “increase their teaching staff and specialized staff in order to [de renforcer] the support provided to students and to promote their success and good mental health”, to “continue to develop and adapt their teaching, in particular to the new digital environment”, as well as to “develop the programs required to deal with evolving societal issues and to offer students more internships and experiments in the field of practice”, according to the rector of the Université de Sherbrooke.
The “problem” of historical underfunding of Quebec universities compared to those in the rest of Canada, pointed out during the winter, spring, summer and fall of 2012 by the president of the Conference of Rectors and principals of Quebec universities (CREPUQ), Luce Samoisette, has “really gotten worse” over the last decade, repeats Pierre Cossette. “Maple Spring was followed by a long wave of budget cuts” in higher education institutions, he recalls.
Higher Education Minister Danielle McCann has taken due note of the universities’ budget request. “We will analyze this well”, she promised in an exchange with The duty. “We will obviously try as much as possible to support them. »