But university students will have to do ‘their fair share’
Well, that was quick. Yesterday, Quebec Premier Jean Charest prorogued the National Assembly, today he gave the inaugural speech of the new session.
Charest said education would be one of his top priorities. He promised more government and private sector funding for universities but said that students would have to do “their fair share.”
So, not much detail to go on. I’d hazard a guess that the “fair share” comment is a reference to tuition increases but it seems likely that there won’t be any numbers until the budget comes out in late March or early April.
One area where Charest got specific was on language instruction in elementary schools. Grade six students in the French-language system will now spend half their year learning English. It’s worth noting that during last week’s debate about extending language laws to CEGEPs both Liberal and the Parti quebecois MNAs said that English-language instruction needed to be improved in the francophone system.