Latest news with #CEGEPs
Montreal Gazette
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Quebec professors demand minister's resignation over ‘attack on academic freedom'
Quebec Politics By More than 750 professors at CEGEPs and universities across Quebec have signed an open letter demanding the resignation of Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry, accusing her of restricting academic freedom and 'contributing to the worrying wave of political repression and ideological censorship sweeping through our societies today.' In a letter published in Thursday's Le Devoir newspaper, the professors say Déry's questioning of administrators at four Montreal CEGEPs that offer courses discussing Palestine, and her ongoing investigation into the tense climate at Dawson and Vanier colleges, are a 'direct attack on the autonomy of CEGEPs and their teaching staff.' They demand the minister immediately call off the investigation and resign from her cabinet post. They also call on the entire college and university community 'to mobilize to firmly defend pedagogical autonomy, academic freedom and government transparency, which must be pillars of higher education and democracy.' Déry's press attaché, Simon Savignac, told The Gazette on Friday afternoon that the minister has no intention of resigning, but will not comment further on the issue until the investigation she called into the climate at Dawson and Vanier, is complete, probably sometime in June. Savignac confirmed that the minister met in late August with the directors of four CEGEPs — Saint-Laurent, Dawson, Vanier and Gérald Godin — as well as two officials from the Fédération des cégeps. He insisted however that Déry gave no directives about the content of any courses, and only asked questions about the climate on those campuses. Savignac said the authors of the letter erred in one paragraph of the open letter, by suggesting that at that Aug. 29 meeting, Déry tried to interfere with the content of courses taught at the CEGEPs. The letter says: 'By summoning the administrators of four Montreal CEGEPs to question the content of courses discussing Palestinian authors and by launching an opaque ministerial investigation into the 'tense climate' at Dawson and Vanier colleges, citing complaints that were never brought to the attention of the relevant administrations, Ms. Déry is taking an exceptionally serious action. This so-called 'administrative' investigation, political in its motivations, constitutes a direct attack on the autonomy of CEGEPs and their teaching staff.' In December, Déry announced that her ministry would investigate complaints from students at Dawson and Vanier to determine whether the colleges were ensuring the 'physical and psychological well-being of students.' She cited alleged bullying and concerns about some teachers' actions amid heightened tensions related to the Israel-Hamas war. At the time, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, an organization on whose board Déry once sat, welcomed the inquiry, denouncing a 'disturbing pattern of hate' and 'vitriolic attacks on our shared values taking place in our educational institutions.' At the National Assembly on April 29, Déry defended her actions saying: 'What is important is to manage a climate on certain campuses that is problematic, even toxic. This is the reason that we launched this investigation, and I took some time before launching it. It is an investigation where we received many complaints.' She added that the investigators have 150 days to submit a report to her. But the authors of the letter write that Déry's actions undermine the very foundations of higher education. 'The mission of higher education cannot be subordinated to partisan interests nor to a logic of political control. The professional freedom of teachers, like freedom of expression and critical analysis in the classroom, is essential to the intellectual and civic education of students. By undermining these foundations, the Minister is undermining the credibility and integrity of the entire college network, her legitimacy as minister, the psychological safety of professors, and the trust that the teaching staff should be able to place in her.' The original authors of the letter are Hamza Tabaichount and Dominique Sauvé, both of Collège Montmorency, Natalie Kouri-Towe of Concordia University, Crina Bondre Ardelean of Champlain College, Tanya Rowell-Katzemba of John Abbott College, and Vincent Romani of Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
New language law bogs down Quebec's English CEGEPs, staff say
Workers at Quebec's English CEGEPs say the province's new language law, which went into effect at the start of the current school year, has led to confusion as they try to help students navigate the rules. Academic advisors and other staff have struggled to make sense of the changes — and students are paying the price, said Éric Cyr, head of the union that represents non-teaching staff at CEGEPs. Under provisions of Law 14 (also known as Bill 96) that went into effect last fall, students are required to take an additional three courses in French, on top of the two already required. Cyr said prior to the changes, there were a little over a dozen different options for students when it came to the combination of courses they could take to get them to graduation. Now there are 115, he said. "That's a lot of work, a lot of stress," Cyr, president of the Fédération du personnel professionnel des collèges, said in an interview. "You don't want to have a student coming towards the end of his or her studies and noticing that one course is missing, for example, because it was taken in English and should have been taken in French because of the new law." Champlain College is an English-language CEGEP on Montreal's South Shore. (Rowan Kennedy/CBC) An added stress The prospect of taking so many courses in French can be a source of anxiety, particularly for anglophones, new immigrants and Indigenous students that aren't fluent, said Dayle Lesperance, an academic advisor at Champlain College on Montreal's South Shore. "Students are definitely stressed about the French courses that they need to take," she said. Sasha Allen, a student at Champlain College, said taking additional courses in French has been a challenge. (Rowan Kennedy/CBC) Sasha Allen, a student at Champlain, said additional French courses have been a challenge he hadn't anticipated. "For sure it increases the stress because it's just something added," Allen said. Savannah Mangerpan, another student, said it's "a little bit frustrating." "For students who aren't as fluent, I think it's a bit harder to get through school." In a statement on Tuesday, Quebec's Education Ministry said resources are allocated to CEGEPs to allow them to offer support to help students succeed under the new law, such as workshops and French language support centres. The ministry has budgeted about $8 million so far for English CEGEPs to help students navigate the changes. WATCH | New Quebec language rules unfairly affect Indigenous students, English CEGEPs warn:
CBC
29-01-2025
- General
- CBC
New language law bogs down Quebec's English CEGEPs, staff say
Workers at Quebec's English CEGEPs say the province's new language law, which went into effect at the start of the current school year, has led to confusion as they try to help students navigate the rules. Academic advisors and other staff have struggled to make sense of the changes — and students are paying the price, said Éric Cyr, head of the union that represents non-teaching staff at CEGEPs. Under provisions of Law 14 (also known as Bill 96) that went into effect last fall, students are required to take an additional three courses in French, on top of the two already required. Cyr said prior to the changes, there were a little over a dozen different options for students when it came to the combination of courses they could take to get them to graduation. Now there are 115, he said. "That's a lot of work, a lot of stress," Cyr, president of the Fédération du personnel professionnel des collèges, said in an interview. "You don't want to have a student coming towards the end of his or her studies and noticing that one course is missing, for example, because it was taken in English and should have been taken in French because of the new law." An added stress The prospect of taking so many courses in French can be a source of anxiety, particularly for anglophones, new immigrants and Indigenous students that aren't fluent, said Dayle Lesperance, an academic advisor at Champlain College on Montreal's South Shore. "Students are definitely stressed about the French courses that they need to take," she said. Sasha Allen, a student at Champlain, said additional French courses have been a challenge he hadn't anticipated. "For sure it increases the stress because it's just something added," Allen said. Savannah Mangerpan, another student, said it's "a little bit frustrating." "For students who aren't as fluent, I think it's a bit harder to get through school." In a statement on Tuesday, Quebec's Education Ministry said resources are allocated to CEGEPs to allow them to offer support to help students succeed under the new law, such as workshops and French language support centres. The ministry has budgeted about $8 million so far for English CEGEPs to help students navigate the changes. WATCH | New Quebec language rules unfairly affect Indigenous students, English CEGEPs warn: New Quebec language rules unfairly affect Indigenous students, English CEGEPs warn 8 months ago Duration 2:24 The directors of five English CEGEPs say exemptions to Bill 96 made by the Quebec government for Indigenous students are insufficient.
