The CSQ is wondering why the Legault government chose to reinvest in elementary and secondary schools, after announcing budget cuts there, but not in CEGEPs.
Union president Éric Gingras suggested a hypothesis at a press conference Thursday: the age of students. He believes the $151 million budget cuts to CEGEPs, announced last June, are less likely to cause discontent there.
“Very often, CEGEPs are left behind, and the government thinks that, even if it imposes budget cuts there, in two or three days, we won’t be talking about it anymore,” Gingras said during his annual press conference at the start of the new school year, Thursday in Montreal.
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Alongside him, the presidents of the professional, teaching, and support staff federations reiterated that these $151 million in cuts come on top of the hiring freeze for staff who do not provide direct services to students, which was already imposed last November.
These measures come into effect at a time when the CEGEP population is growing and a report by the Auditor General revealed that two-thirds of CEGEPs were in poor condition, these union representatives pointed out.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
