Archive for the ‘Education’ Category
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A closer look at the StatCan tuition data reveals some worrying trends
Ontario’s domestic undergraduate fees are 74 per cent higher than the average in the rest of Canada… Graduate tuition is even worse: 96 per cent higher than the rest of Canada, having increased by 13 per cent since 2010, compared to six per cent in the RoC. International fees tell a similar tale: undergraduate tuition fees are 54 per cent higher than the rest of Canada, and graduate fees are 66 per cent higher.
Tags: budget, ideology, participation, youth
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On campus, it’s good to be bothered by a diversity of ideas
… consider the advice U.S. President Barack Obama… “There will be times when you shouldn’t compromise your core values, your integrity and you will have the responsibility to speak up in the face of injustice. But listen. Engage. If the other side has a point, learn from them. If they’re wrong, rebut them. Teach them. Beat them on the battlefield of ideas… you will have to deal with ignorance, hatred, racism, foolishness, trifling folks … at every stage of your life.”
Tags: ideology, multiculturalism, participation, rights
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Ontario’s schools have issues – but don’t blame funding cuts
… for an explanation for resource challenges in Ontario’s public schools, look to how the system is organized and managed… Archaic regulations, union monopoly (which helps create misaligned incentives for both bureaucrats and educators), lack of responsiveness to parental demands, and centralized, prescriptive curriculum are just a few of the many handcuffs holding back Ontario’s public-school systems… the problems in Ontario public education require a fundamental restructuring
Tags: budget, jurisdiction, standard of living, tax
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Ontario won’t close schools for deaf and blind children
Ontario will keep open four schools for 160 children who are deaf, blind or have severe learning disabilities while it develops pilot projects to help kids with similar challenges in traditional schools. The move follows protests by worried parents last winter and spring — and an outcry from opposition parties at Queen’s Park — after the government stopped admissions at the schools in Milton, London, Belleville and Ottawa for the fall.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living, youth
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What’s So Great about University Rankings?
The rankings seem arbitrary… with universities rising and falling for reasons that are unclear even to academics… who study the rating systems… criteria are biased toward western values and ignore student satisfaction, safety, diversity and economic and social justice… if university leaders become obsessed with rankings, then they become obsessed with branding… with how many articles our academics are getting in top-ranked journals, which is a bit of a racket itself… attention is taken away from issues that need a lot of focus.
Tags: ideology, standard of living, youth
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Panel to review federal funding for university-based scientific research
The federal government has named an expert panel to conduct an unprecedented and sweeping review of how it supports university-based scientific research… the panel could trigger anything from minor tweaks to a major rebuild of Ottawa’s science-funding apparatus, which this year is expected to funnel more than $3-billion to Canadian researchers and their labs.
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
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Queen’s Park should save schools for deaf children
… depriving deaf children of sign language results in linguistic and cognitive delays that extend into adulthood… The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires governments to facilitate learning of sign language by deaf students and promote the linguistic identity of the deaf community in schools. Instead of closing the provincial schools, the ministry of education should work to enhance the schools’ environment and enable deaf and hard of hearing students to thrive.
Tags: disabilities, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living, youth
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Arguments for a one-board school system strong, but falling on deaf ears
The OSSTF proposal wouldn’t end publicly funded Catholic education. All existing school boards – public, Catholic and French language – would be merged. Combined boards could still oversee a Catholic education component… Full schools allow a greater variety of courses and stronger extracurricular programs, which translates to better education. Ending public funding for religious schools would be the best and fairest policy.
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, rights, tax, youth
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Why universal screening for autism is a good idea
… research tells us that early intervention can result in significant improvements in social communication, cognitive function and play skills. It makes a huge difference that we identify these children early… screening tools that accurately identify toddlers at highest risk of ASD. These tools could easily be incorporated into screening at well-baby visits… Autism Canada recommends continuous developmental surveillance and autism-specific screening at 18 months, 24 months…
Tags: child care, disabilities, mental Health, participation, standard of living
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Finland’s social climbers: How they’re fighting inequality with education, and winning
This is a rare example of a country where national policy has been used to build a better pathway out of poverty and into a productive life. In recent years, that policy, while still successful, has begun to feel the pressures of a more diverse population and a fast-changing economy… what if… instead of spending money to make life more tolerable for the poor, governments invested in transforming children of poverty into productive, non-dependent, tax-contributing people?
Tags: budget, child care, economy, featured, ideology, multiculturalism, participation, standard of living, youth
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