CEGEP students face uncertainty, delayed exams as Quebec public sector strikes drag on

Strikes are causing uncertainty in Quebec's public CEGEPs as students grapple with the possibility of extended semesters and delayed exams.

Public CEGEP teachers are among the public sector workers affiliated with the common front, a coalition of unions whose members are planning a seven-day strike between Dec. 8 and 14. 

That strike comes just as CEGEP students were set to finish their semesters and do their final exams. 

Now, some CEGEPs, like Montreal's Dawson College, have extended their semesters later into December to compensate for time lost during the strikes and scheduled exams after the winter holidays. 

It's a move that has some students scrambling to change travel plans. 

"It's really [causing] a lot of anxiety," Isabelo Beli-en David, the president of the Dawson Student Union, said in an interview on CBC's Daybreak. "A lot of people have plans to visit family."

Other students worry they won't be able to take advantage of their winter break because they'll have to continue studying to prepare for exams now scheduled for early January. 

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Some education and health-care workers say they're walking off the job because they're overworked and underpaid.

"This semester has been pretty hard, a lot of work. I was really excited for the winter break to have a break from everything," said Olivia Henderson, a first-year student at Dawson College studying pure and applied science. 

"But now that it's extended I have to keep on studying during the winter break so I don't really get the break I wanted and it's just more stress. I'm not happy about this, that's for sure." 

Most CEGEPs have not yet, as of Friday morning, issued clear plans about exams and rescheduling, awaiting further news on the strikes or the possibility of a deal between the government and the unions. 

John Abbott College has signalled that the semester may be extended. 

That leaves students in a state of uncertainty, according to Megan Dagsaan, president of the student union at John Abbott College.

"We don't really know what's going to happen," she said. "We don't know when our exams are going to take place. We don't know when the classes will be made up. For students who are graduating in the next semester, they don't know if they're going to be able to graduate or make it to university on time."

Despite the uncertainty, student union leaders at Montreal's three English CEGEPs said they fully supported their teachers' right to strike.

"We want to support our teachers," Justice Bongiovanni, vice-president of the Vanier College Students' Association. 

"We have to support them and what they're fighting for … even though people are worried about their grades."