Query about new CEGEP rule
CBC has an item about Dawson College and the coming difficulty about teaching core courses in French instead of English. I had remembered that this aspect of Bill 96 was scrapped because of the organizational difficulty of making sure an English‑language school had enough teachers capable of teaching a core course exclusively in French, but I suppose it came down to this: “Students attending English CEGEP will be required to take at least three 45-hour courses in French. For those with English eligibility, those can be French second-language courses — so, classes that just teach how to speak and write in French. For those without eligibility, it has to be three courses from their core curriculum.”
Why are students without eligibility even allowed to go to CEGEP in English? Why do English CEGEPs even exist any more?
Forgetful 14:39 on 2023-08-17 Permalink
The motivation behind the bill irks me, but at the same time can’t you just take a “commandite” course at a nearby CEGEP or uni (or remotely through CEGEP a distance)? Basically no additional fees if you take the course at another CEGEP. As for the uni option, sure it’s more expensive but at least you know that course can count towards a bachelor’s degree. I’m guessing it’s more of a concern for the CEGEPS themselves than for the students; complicated to find teachers, maybe less internal course registration means less funding. Also wondering if Physical Education can be used to fill the requirement since they’re core course. Leg Day, but en Français s’il vous plaît.
Mark Côté 14:45 on 2023-08-17 Permalink
Although it’s been, purposefully perhaps, pretty vague, the wording we’ve seen recently implies that even people who officially have English eligibility might not be able to go to an English CEGEP, since (a) they are going to cap enrolment and (b) they are giving priority to those already in English high schools. So if you have an eligibility certificate but you decided to go to a French high school (to, say, improve your French), you might have a hard time getting into an English CEGEP.
But none of this has been tested yet.
jeather 15:08 on 2023-08-17 Permalink
They haven’t defined what “priority” will even mean (do you need to accept every person with eligibility before anyone without? can you just have different eligibility requirements?), but currently there aren’t enough spots for everyone to go to English cegeps who want to. The cap is fun, because there are fines if they go higher but if they go lower, that’s the new cap — and there are always some people who just don’t show up.
Note that a core course cannot be a language class, because apparently you can’t learn a third language in French, only in English. I believe that phys ed is excluded from the requirement but don’t quote me. I believe that the non-eligible students ALSO need to take the regular 3 French classes, and that Indigenous students have been exempted from most of these requirements.
Kevin 17:13 on 2023-08-17 Permalink
Part of the unintended consequence of Bill 101 has been to create three tiers of education in this province, and two of them are extremely competitive.
And Cegep is probably the best place in Canada for young adults to find out what they want to do as their first career without going into massive debt.