this post was submitted on 17 Dec 2023
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106
Quebec to raise university fees and mandate French for out-of-province students (www.bbc.com)
submitted 1 year ago by alphacyberranger@sh.itjust.works to c/world@lemmy.world
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[–] Windows2000Srv@lemmy.ca 34 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Something that people should keep in mind is that the fees were lower for those "out-of-province" students in Québec than in their own province.

This fee raise basically brings it on par with what they would pay in their on province. One of the reasoning behind this law is that Québec shouldn't be subsidizing other provinces way too expensive university system.

If you are living in Québec, university fees are quite cheap, and this doesn't change.

The French vs English aspect is widely talked about, but not a whole lot is mentioned about the actual price hike.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The total fees for out of province students will still be lower than for out of province students in other provinces.

The fees for international students will still be lower than the fees for international students in other provinces.

In the only province where French is the only official language, French universities received less financing than English universities no matter the source, including from the provincial government. Donating to one's Alma Mater isn't part of the French Canadian culture for a ton of historical reasons, that leads to an university like McGill getting 200m$ from a single ex student and having over a billion sleeping in its coffers while the Université du Québec en Outaouais barely manages to offer basic services to its students.

Is it such a bad thing that the government asks that foreign students integrate themselves by learning the local language? That's an incentive for them to stay and it prevents the issue of having some of them stay without being able to speak the language, pretty much forcing them to live in one of three urban areas and their suburbs (Montreal, Gatineau, Sherbrooke).

[–] Marsupial@quokk.au 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Imagine calling your fellow countrymen foreigners.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works -2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

See there's this thing we call "a definition" and that word is appropriate to the situation and if you think "foreigner" is pejorative then you're the one who's got an issue...

[–] rivermonster@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is it federally legal for to discriminate based on language? Don't know, don't live there, really curious, though.

Or is this one if those things that have to be adjudicated in the courts?

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The law states that English universities can take in whoever they want, 80% must finish their degree having reached conversational level in French otherwise English universities will lose part of their funding (when they're the universities that are the richest in the province).

That's not language discrimination, that's just bad journalism.

[–] rivermonster@lemmy.world -2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Thank you for clarifying. English is the official language of Canada, right? I know provences support French, but is it also an official language?

For instance, in the U.S. there is no national language. Most government forms are provided in MANY languages and/or can be requested in them.

I'm not sure in the US a university could require language profiency in a specific language. To be fair, though, I haven't researched it. Maybe somebody can clarify if there are any federally funded ones that do?

If Canadian universities require conversational French for 80% of grads but the only official language is English, then I wonder what the legal basis is for the requirement? If both English and Fench are official national languages, I understand how that would be the basis.

Thanks for the conversation, I'm learning a lot.

[–] FarraigePlaisteach@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

All I know about Quebec is that they have several First Nations there. Why is a foreign language be mandated over those?

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Foreign?

The official language in Quebec is French.

[–] GiveMemes@jlai.lu 9 points 1 year ago

I think he understands that and is calling the French colonists foreigners to the native first nations peoples...

[–] mriormro@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yes, French is a foreign language to the Americas.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Then so are first Nation languages since we all come from Africa.

[–] mriormro@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Lol, holy shit dude. You've lost the plot.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago

Just pointing out the ridiculousness of the "it's a foreign language" argument.

There's no universities in a first Nation language and the official language in Quebec is French. I would be the first one to vote in favor of teaching kids a first Nation language, there's 11 families of them in Quebec alone so a common language is necessary and in Quebec that's French.

Members of first Nations are still free to go to school in whatever language they choose and the headline is just bad, at university level everyone can go wherever they want, it's the English universities that will lose financing if they don't get 80% of students from other provinces and out of country to reach level 5 French (out of 12 levels to be considered perfectly bilingual), that's just enough French to be able to understand an everyday conversation.

Do you consider that all other provinces do language discrimination because people can't go to university there without knowing English?

[–] DrMango@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

All this talk of Quebecois separatisme is giving me think DFW was a lot more prophetic than we thought...

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 1 points 1 year ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

The Canadian province of Quebec is introducing a plan that will hike tuition fees and mandate French proficiency for its out-of-province university students.

In a letter published on Thursday, Quebec's higher education minister Pascale Déry said tuition for out-of-province students would increase from C$9,000 ($6,700; £5,200) to C$12,000 a year.

The 33% rise is smaller than what the province had originally proposed in October, which was to double the tuition fees for students from the rest of Canada.

The province will also require that 80% of students from outside Quebec reach an intermediate level of French by the time they graduate, and universities would face financial penalties if that target is not met.

Mr Saini added his university had not ruled out moves like opening another campus outside of Quebec or filing a potential lawsuit.

Concordia University President Graham Carr told the Montreal Gazette that he believed the plan would lead to a drop in the number of students, and would damage Quebec's reputation.

The original article contains 429 words, the summary contains 164 words. Saved 62%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] 5200@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

In the Netherlands we also see a return of mandated dutch classes because universeties cannot cope with the influx of students and have no legal way to stop students from other EU countries. So they will limit the influx by switching part of the curriculum back to Dutch. This seems similar.

[–] naturalgasbad@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago

Frankly, good. Montreal was already becoming remarkably English and that has risks of encouraging Quebec secessionism. Same thing should happen for the Mayan language in Yucatan, Mexico.

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Because fuck people who want an education and don't speak a particular language.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They can still study in English if they want to, they just have to learn the local language.

Try to go to university in Vancouver without knowing a word of English.

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Say this comment in a language spoken by a First Nation please.

[–] cyborganism@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What doe that have to do with the topic at hand? What you're implying is nothing but a hypocrisy fallacy.

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago

It means that it has to do with ethnic superiority. It isn't that they are worried about the uniqueness of Quebec vanishing it means they are worried about their specific group not running things.

[–] cyborganism@lemmy.ca -2 points 1 year ago

Hey, @quinten@lemmy.world looking how this thread is degenerating into a complete shit show of Québec bashing, can we lock it down?