[HPFGU-OTChatter] CEGEP (was: Re: Question for British list members/PS for Goddlefrood)

[Sheryll Townsend]

> Sheryll wrote:
> 
> > Quebec is an entity all it's own. Not sure how it
> is now, but when I
> was in high school there it only went to grade 11.
> After that you
> headed off to CEGEP. <snip>
> 
> Carol responds:
> 
> CEGEP? Isn't that where De Nial is? (Sorry. Very bad
> joke.) Seriously,
> what is CEGEP?
> 
Sheryll:

Best explanation of CEGEP comes from the Statistics
Canada website
(http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/81-004-XIE/def/cegepdef.htm):

The postsecondary system in Quebec is unique in that
the colleges (CEGEPs) provide a program that is a
requirement for entry to university. Students who
complete high school (normally after 11 years of
schooling) must complete two years of the "general
program" of the colleges (as opposed to the
"vocational" programs) and they then proceed to
university for completion of their program, which
normally takes three years for a pass bachelor's
degree in arts or science. 

Carol:
> Also, it sounds as if the age levels in Canada
> correspond with those
> in the U.S. (kindergarten at age five, with many or
> most kids turning
> six before the end of the school year), so grade
> thirteen would be
> eighteen-year-olds, with most turning nineteen by
> the end of the year?
> 
Sheryll:

Exactly right. Grade 13 was always optional. I didn't
do it. Mostly because of the mix-ups caused by coming
from Quebec to Ontario in the middle of high school. 

Because Quebec high school was shorter I was given the
option of getting double credits for each of the
classes I took there that used the same texts as grade
13 Ontario courses. I opted for the double credits. In
those days you had to have X number of credits to
graduate, generally with 1 credit per course. 

I sucked at math, so couldn't opt for any of those for
grade 13. I'd finished everything available in the
sciences (chemistry and biology, the latter being the
course I got double credit for) and had taken grade 13
sociology to get enough credits for grade 12. :) There
just weren't enough options left for me to get enough
credits for grade 13, so I decided to take the grade
12 graduation. I hadn't been planning on attending
university, so grade 13 wasn't a recommended course of
action. It was until I was in my 20s that I decided to
go back to school. :)

Carol:

> And wouldn't most schools in Quebec use French as
> the primary
> language, or are they all bilingual?
> 
Sheryll:

Interesting question. Not sure how it is now, but
there were definitely places where you could get your
education completely in English back then. Not as much
now. I know both English schools where I was living
are now closed and have been for decades. But, yes,
most Quebec schools use French as their primary, and
often only, language. Not sure on how many bilingual
schools there were, or are now. 

I attended a bilingual school in Ontario for my grade
12. Yes, I went to 3 different high schools. The joys
of being an Air Force brat! I think I attended 7
different schools altogether over the course of my
education. Eight if you count college. :) My last high
school was in a predominently French speaking rural
area. About 2/3 - 3/4 of the students took their
courses in French, the rest of us in English. 

> Carol, enjoying a respite from the heat and hoping
> for rain today or
> tomorrow

Sheryll:

I'll gladly trade weather. It's been cold, damp and
gloomy here. I shouldn't still be wearing flannel
pyjamas at the end of May!

Sheryll

Join the fun at Convention Alley 2008



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