The student union at a Montreal CEGEP is seeking a court order to prevent in-person exams that they worry will put students and their families at risk of COVID-19.
Kevin Contant-Holowatyj, chairperson of the Dawson Student Union, said his organization filed the request for injunction on Thursday, adding that students are worried they might catch the virus while writing an exam or while travelling to the school and bring it home to their family.
“We have a lot of students that have reached out with concerns about the safety of in-person exams, concern as well for their family’s safety,” he said in an interview Friday.
He said the college has not made plans to accommodate immunocompromised students or students who are self-isolating because they may have been exposed to COVID-19.
He said vaccination only opened to students over 18 recently and those under 18 still have to wait several more days before they can make an appointment to be vaccinated.
Contant-Holowatyj said only chemistry, math and physics exams are scheduled to be held in-person and the student union believes Dawson College is exaggerating the need for in-person exams after a year of online classes.
In-person exams have not been held at the college, the largest English-language junior college in Quebec, since last spring. He said the legal filing to stop the exams — which are scheduled to begin May 27 — is a last resort.
“We have been working for the past month and a half, talking with the college, trying to find a middle ground,” he said.
Dawson College refused to comment, citing the fact that the matter is before the courts.