Posts tagged with cegep.
What Quebec’s CEGEPs can teach the rest of Canada
When my son Scott started university last year, I had mixed feelings.
Although I had no doubt he could excel academically, I wondered whether at 16 he was actually mature enough to handle university.
It's not that he's particularly immature for his age. But if it's true what they say about males maturing more slowly than females, then my son was already at a disadvantage, even before starting.
For students like Scott, who graduate from high school early, I think attending a CEGEP (Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel) could be ideal. These post-secondary education institutions, which are exclusive to the province of Quebec (translated into English, CEGEP means, "College of General and Vocational Education") are similar to community colleges.
CEGEPs offer a two-year program which prepares students for university, or a three-year vocational program which enables students to enter a technical profession right after they graduate. Thanks to CEGEPs, most undergraduate degrees in Quebec universities are only three years in length for Quebec students.
Back in the late '70s, I attended Dawson College, a CEGEP in Montreal.
Since students graduate from high school after Grade 11 in Quebec, those who want or need a break from school can graduate from high school a year sooner. For those who plan to continue with post-secondary education, CEGEPs act as a kind of prep school.
I suspect that some of the reasons why so many students perform poorly during their freshman year has little to do with them not being smart or academic enough. Many of those students who struggle in their first year of post-secondary education simply underestimated how challenging those other parts of university life can be.
Attending CEGEP can mean a couple of more years to mature, while learning skills that will help increase a student's chances of success later at the university level. Too many students find the difference between the work load of high school and university to be overwhelming.
What earned them an A+ in Grade 12, might be worth only a B- or C+ in university. For many first-years, CEGEP might make that difference between success and failure during their freshmen year.
In a 2004 report for the Minister of Education of Quebec, students consulted by the Advisory Board said they preferred the CEGEP system over doing an extra year of high school. CEGEP is "'great' because it leaves all options open; going to university from Grade 12 would entail making final decisions sooner," the paper reports the students as saying.
The students said they preferred the transition that CEGEP offers as they felt better prepared for university than if they had stayed in high school for an additional year.
University admissions officers also said that the success and performance level of students coming from CEGEPs was "significantly better than those of students coming from other provinces directly from their secondary school graduation."
As a former CEGEP student, I can definitely see the advantages that a transitional period between high school and university offered me. Of course, not every CEGEP graduate feels the same way. My husband attended Vanier College in Montreal before enrolling at McGill. He still says it was a waste of two years of his life.
But even he would have to agree that at least it wasn't an expensive waste of those two years.
Unlike colleges across the rest of the country, which can cost thousands of dollars each year, CEGEPs in Quebec don't charge any tuition. For example, the fees listed at Dawson College for this year, which includes instructional and student services, plus student union fees, total $125. They charge an additional five bucks for convocation.
For students outside of Quebec, there are plenty of options besides jumping straight from high school to university. Some students stay behind for a 'victory lap' before moving on to university, and others just take a year or two off from school altogether. But the main reason why CEGEP can help prepare students for the demands of university isn't just because it creates an extra two years to mature after high school.
It's because it acts as a bridge between high school and university.
Instead of being overwhelmed and discouraged by that first year of university, possibly getting a low GPA or failing courses, CEGEP students have already been introduced to the increased workload and pace.
That's why I don't think bringing back Grade 13 is necessarily the answer. Students don't simply need an extra year of high school: they need a better transition between high school and university.
Tagged with
cegep,
transition,
quebec
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