New language law bogs down Quebec’s English CEGEPs, staff say [Video]

Workers at Quebec’s English CEGEPs say the province’s new language law, which went into effect at the start of the current school year, has led to confusion as they try to help students navigate the rules.

Academic advisors and other staff have struggled to make sense of the changes — and students are paying the price, said Éric Cyr, head of the union that represents non-teaching staff at CEGEPs.

Under provisions of Law 14 (also known as Bill 96) that went into effect last fall, students are required to take an additional three courses in French, on top of the two already required.

Cyr said prior to the changes, there were a little over a dozen different options for students when it came to the combination of courses they could take to get them to graduation. Now there are 115, he said.

“That’s a lot of work, a lot of …