Archive for the ‘Education’ Category
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Does Ontario really need three new universities?
Sunday, January 15th, 2012
Jan 14 2012
Even if the new universities or campuses are launched as teaching-oriented universities — which are less expensive — it’s doubtful the academic community will allow that model to continue over the long term. Eventually, the institutions will become “real” universities, with all the associated research and administrative costs. And the added expense for new university spaces is unlikely to significantly change the number of people who are properly trained for the workforce… We should probably be looking at a different or expanded role for colleges…
Tags: economy, ideology, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Tax breaks leave gaping hole in federal budget
Friday, January 13th, 2012
Jan 12 2012
Every year Ottawa gives up billions of taxes in deductions, exemptions, deferrals, credits, rebates and concessions. Because no money actually goes out the door, these tax breaks don’t count as spending. But they cost the federal treasury billions… here is the value of all the tax expenditures in the 2011 report, released this week: $152 billion. To put that in perspective, the government’s total program spending in 2011 amounted to $248 billion.
Tags: budget, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Education Delivery System, Governance Delivery System | No Comments »
Should Ontario keep funding separate Catholic schools? No.
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
Jan. 3, 2012
Ontario is in the anachronistic position of being the only province that publicly funds one type of religious school (Catholic) to the exclusion of all others. Massive, wasteful duplication and the religious segregation of students are some of the results of this system. Recent events have also shown Catholic doctrine is incompatible with the equality rights in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms while other religious groups, now seeking access to public schools and public funding, have pointed out the blatant hypocrisy of Ontario’s education policy.
Tags: budget, ideology, multiculturalism, rights, tax
Posted in Education Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Most students called ineligible for tuition rebates
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
Jan. 4, 2012
less than 50 per cent of all students in the university sector and one-third of college students will benefit. The CFS presented a petition to the legislature signed by 40,000 students proposing that the $423-million to be spent annually on the rebate program be applied to all tuition fees. This would reduce tuition costs for everyone by nearly 15 per cent… (and) the current application process to determine who is eligible is elaborate and also costly.
Tags: budget, ideology, poverty, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Policy Context | 4 Comments »
Too many sociologists? Just enough
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
Jan. 02, 2012
A liberal arts education is not an automatic guarantor of an emancipated intellect or an enlightened sensibility. You have to work at it… exposure to a tradition of learning that is not subservient to a prevailing political ideology, that is deeply humanist in its core, steeped in the writings of extraterritorial thinkers not held hostage to the orthodoxy of the moment… (can bring) down an oppressive system through… art and witness.
Tags: ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Tech-Savvy Classrooms to Personalize Learning
Tuesday, December 27th, 2011
Dec. 26, 2011
BYOD or “bring your own device” policies, which started a few years back as cost-saving measures in the workplace, are now being considered in school districts worldwide… why ignore this obvious resource? Since young people have taken so readily to mobile technology, it makes sense to teach them how they can use that tool for mobile learning. BYOD policies could also help realize “personalized instruction”… Schools will thrive under a BYOD policy, but only if the change is implemented as part of a well-crafted strategy.
Tags: globalization, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Tuition rebates for 310,000 Ontario students to begin in January
Tuesday, December 27th, 2011
Dec. 27, 2011
The majority of college and university students in Ontario will be eligible for 30 per cent tuition rebates starting in the new year… rebates of $730 to each college student and $1,600 to each university student from families with incomes under $160,000 a year… but the Canadian Federation of Students says all students should get a tuition cut. The students’ group presented a 40,000-signature petition to the legislature asking that the $423-million annual cost of the rebates be used to pay for a 13 per cent across-the-board reduction in tuitions.
Tags: budget, ideology, participation
Posted in Education Delivery System | No Comments »
Ontario’s publicly funded intolerance
Wednesday, December 14th, 2011
Dec 14, 2011
The various groups that have come out against Ontario’s proposed anti-bullying law are doing a fine job of proving the argument that the province has no business funding a separate Catholic school system… a group called Ontario Catholic Parent Advocates, is saying quite plainly that Bill 13 would require Catholic schools to accept homosexuality. And that they shouldn’t have to… The Catholic Church has a right to its beliefs. But the fact that taxpayers continue to fund schools that want to teach those beliefs looks ever more ridiculous as stories like this play out.
Tags: ideology, rights, tax, youth
Posted in Education Policy Context | No Comments »
OCUFA’s Adamson responds to Globe and Mail columnist Wente
Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
Dec. 7, 2011
Ms. Wente is dead wrong when she claims that the rising cost of tuition is due to unfunded pension liabilities. Tuition has gone up because governments are no longer funding higher education adequately, and students have been asked to pick up the slack. Per-student government funding in Ontario is now 25 per cent less than it was in 1990. Over the same period, enrolment has increased by nearly 60 per cent. It doesn’t take a math major to figure out why students are paying more.
Tags: budget, participation, pensions, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Pension ponzi is a raw deal for students
Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
Dec. 06, 2011
Across the country, universities are cutting back on programs to pay for soaring operating costs. The fastest-growing cost is frequently the pension fund. Cumulatively, university pension funds are billions in the hole. And in order to bail them out, or at least get them back above water, universities are being forced to divert substantial chunks of money from their operating funds. In effect, the students and taxpayers are on the hook for the generous pension promises made to faculty, staff and retirees. And they have pension deals the younger generation can only dream of.
Tags: budget, pensions, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
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