| Alberta’s post-secondary education system gets poor grades in a new report card by the left-wing lobby group Public Interest Alberta (PIA).
PIA has been holding a series of public hearings on the province’s post-secondary system. The group also asked Albertans to grade the government on four issues: funding, affordability, accessibility and quality. Of the 237 people who filled out the report card, most gave the government Ds or Fs.
Shortly after the last provincial election, the government promised that post-secondary education would be its highest priority. Since then it has announced a new $3-billion endowment fund for education and a six per cent increase in operating funding for universities and colleges for the next three years. This year, students didn’t pay higher tuition fees because the government covered the increase. The government has also put together a 17-member committee to make recommendations on post-secondary education and has held a series of meetings.
But PIA executive director Bill Moore-Kilgannon says the committee has no student representation and limited faculty representation, and the meetings have not been open to the general public.
"Our concern is that the government will have gone through this whole process, will have reviewed post-secondary education for the first time since the early 1970s, and nothing may change unless people really speak out on this issue and keep the pressure on the government to deliver results," says Moore-Kilgannon.
PIA’s report summarizes the comments made at public hearings and includes recommendations. Participants expressed concern about large student debt, lack of access, inadequate loans, rapidly growing tuition fees and other expenses, crowded classrooms and deteriorating infrastructure.
Moore-Kilgannon says he was struck by the stories from students about how difficult it is to fund their education. He says students talked about having to use the food bank and working 20 to 30 hours a week to get by. Students also said the student loan system is too restrictive to meet their needs.
Faculty members expressed concern about increasing corporate influence in post-secondary institutions, and the growing number of private institutions offering post-secondary education.
Although the government has started putting money back into the system, Moore-Kilgannon says it isn’t enough. PIA wants a clear commitment from goverment that it will radically improve the system.
"If we look at the amount of money that the government is putting into funding post-secondary education today compared to what it was in 1992, we’re not even at the same levels we were at then with all the recent announcements in funding," he adds.
Alberta now has the second highest tuition fees in the country, according to Statistics Canada.
Government spokesperson Cam Traynor says the government has been extremely open in its consultation process. He says Minister of Advanced Education Dave Hancock has met personally with student groups, and 2,000 students have filled out a government survey. Traynor says even the government’s "harshest critics," including PIA and opposition politicians, have been invited to a public forum this week in Edmonton. |
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