A student denounces the lack of humanity at her university, which refuses to reimburse her $800 for the semester she cannot complete because she is the caregiver to her cousin, who has terminal cancer.
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” It’s disgusting […] I have the choice to let my cousin die alone. »
Stéphany Beauchamp, 41, is a licensed practical nurse. She teaches in vocational health education.
She is also studying part-time for a bachelor’s degree in vocational education at the Longueuil campus of the Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS). With one course per semester, she has been collecting credits bit by bit since 2013 in order to qualify for teaching.
That fall, she suddenly became a caregiver when her cousin, Kathy Layette, found out she had terminal cervical cancer.
Photo provided by Stéphany Beauchamp
Stéphany Beauchamp (with mask) with her cousin Kathy Layette, this fall.
“It’s like my sister,” she says.
Therefore, while she worked full-time as a teacher, she spent the autumn at his bedside. She was the one who took care of washing them, cheering them up and connecting with the doctors.
date expired
On October 11, she wrote to her department asking that the tuition already paid be deferred to a later meeting. She included a note from the oncologist identifying her as a natural caregiver, a copy of which The Journal obtained.
Ms Beauchamp was then met with a categorical refusal as the deadline for the free assignment had expired.
“Since September 10, 2020, the faculty management no longer authorizes us to withdraw registrations free of charge due to illness or other circumstances of an unforeseen nature and beyond the will of the students,” says the reply email.
She therefore has a choice between losing the $800 in fees she has already paid or neglecting her cousin. “This is financial abuse,” she complains.
She therefore requested a delay in submitting the assessment of her recognition course. But now time is passing and she doesn’t see how to get there.
She has to write scenarios for the 24 skills of her job, she explains. “To date I have finished one and a half […] I don’t even have the strength to open my laptop anymore. »
From case to case
“It’s really shocking […] The university bureaucracy is sometimes deaf and blind to what the student is going through,” responds Samy-Jane Tremblay, president of the Quebec Student Union.
In fact, each university, and sometimes even each faculty or department, has its own set of rules for such decisions, Ms Tremblay notes.
The decision of the department concerned is all the more surprising, since applications for termination with supporting documents are rarely rejected, says Guillaume Bernard, President of the UdeS Student Association.
For its part, the Faculty of Education at the UdeS refuses to comment on the personal situation of the students. Precautions are taken every semester for exceptional situations, Vice Dean Luc Touchette announced by email.
Stéphany Beauchamp is now considering requesting a review of the decision.
As for Kathy Layette, who has been in palliative care since late November. A conversation with her was not possible due to her state of health.
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