With Quebec's student boycott continuing for a ninth week, education officials and faculty members at provincial institutions are now grappling with what to do with a school year that is all but over.
Usually at this time of year, students are prepping for exams and finishing up final assignments.
Yet on Tuesday, thousands in Montreal continued their protest against rising tuition with a big march and picnic at a vocational college.
Meanwhile, Concordia University president Frederick Lowy told students at a public meeting Tuesday that no blanket amnesty can be granted to those who are boycotting classes.
"Students have a right to protest, but they can't avoid consequences of the protest," he said, noting that many other students continued to attend classes.
However, officials like Lowy are considering a $20-per class penalty that is usually levied against students who are given an incomplete grade.
"The notion of waiving the fee for an incomplete is something that will be considered," he said.
But as student demonstrators and their supporters continued to decry a plan to raise tuition, many other students have been planning their own response.
For Simon Talbot, the protest has led to big problems for people who simply want to finish their classes and get on with a summer job.
"We are paying big money for those classes and we are not getting the best of those classes," he said Tuesday.
That's why some students are pushing for a class-action lawsuit against the strikers.
"And second of all, for the summer jobs (and) all the weeks we are going to be losing because of the strike, it is going to have a serious effect on our financial situation, so definitely we should be compensated."
The University of Montreal had extended the semester to April 30, though Concordia has no plans to do the same. At other institutions, faculty members have been advised to evaluate each student as best they can.
Student Annelise Grube-Cavers said that poses a different set of problems.
"They're putting all of the onus of covering course material that was missed on students and professors, rather than providing alternatives, direction and support," she said.
It's estimated that 185,000 students, from CEGEP and post-secondary institutions, aren't attending classes, The boycott followed a provincial announcement to raise tuition by $325 annually for the next five years.
The government of Quebec Premier Jean Charest is planning to nearly double tuition in the province to $3,800 over that time. Still, even with the increases, Quebec students would be paying some of the lowest tuition in the country.
But the boycott is the longest and largest of its kind in Quebec history. Another large protest is planned for Wednesday.
With a report from CTV Montreal
