I am sure that if you have been watching Canadian national news, you are aware of the student protests going on in Quebec due to the rising cost of tuition. Here is my opinion on the matter.
The violence and destruction is wrong.
However, the constant rise in tuition fees (in all provinces, not just Quebec!) is also something to be scrutinized. From what I gather, the huge increases in fees end up lining the college and university presidents' pockets - they don't even increase the salaries of the professors that work so hard to teach these students. Something is mighty wrong with that picture. Teaching is a demanding occupation, and I applaud all who take it on. I'm not sure that I ever could.
So I, for one, am pledging my solidarity with the (peacefully) protesting students. I happen to agree with the funding of post-secondary education largely by taxation. Tax dollars could come from the workers of this country, which I know will irk a great many, but they also could quite easily come from companies with CEOs who are making money hand over fist, while laying off workers or outsourcing jobs to cut their costs.
I think one of the reasons students are protesting also has to do with the lack of decent-paying jobs that are available to graduates of post-secondary institutions. The rate of unemployment for people age 18-24 in this country has just about always been higher than the rest of the labour force, except during wartime, when everybody gets a job because "we all have to support the war effort."
Because of this lack of job availability, specifically in the fields that the students actually studied in (because there are always jobs at Tim Hortons), students are in debt up to their eyeballs. How can one afford to pay for things that make the economy boom (houses, cars, etc.) when they have a mountain of student debt that has to be paid off first?
I, for one, count myself extremely lucky to have recently been hired on a contract basis for 3 months. I should be able to pay off most of my debt with the money I am earning. But those without jobs cannot pay their debts off.
Debt-based economies are doomed to fail. I have said so before.
Vive les etudiantes libre!
The violence and destruction is wrong.
However, the constant rise in tuition fees (in all provinces, not just Quebec!) is also something to be scrutinized. From what I gather, the huge increases in fees end up lining the college and university presidents' pockets - they don't even increase the salaries of the professors that work so hard to teach these students. Something is mighty wrong with that picture. Teaching is a demanding occupation, and I applaud all who take it on. I'm not sure that I ever could.
So I, for one, am pledging my solidarity with the (peacefully) protesting students. I happen to agree with the funding of post-secondary education largely by taxation. Tax dollars could come from the workers of this country, which I know will irk a great many, but they also could quite easily come from companies with CEOs who are making money hand over fist, while laying off workers or outsourcing jobs to cut their costs.
I think one of the reasons students are protesting also has to do with the lack of decent-paying jobs that are available to graduates of post-secondary institutions. The rate of unemployment for people age 18-24 in this country has just about always been higher than the rest of the labour force, except during wartime, when everybody gets a job because "we all have to support the war effort."
Because of this lack of job availability, specifically in the fields that the students actually studied in (because there are always jobs at Tim Hortons), students are in debt up to their eyeballs. How can one afford to pay for things that make the economy boom (houses, cars, etc.) when they have a mountain of student debt that has to be paid off first?
I, for one, count myself extremely lucky to have recently been hired on a contract basis for 3 months. I should be able to pay off most of my debt with the money I am earning. But those without jobs cannot pay their debts off.
Debt-based economies are doomed to fail. I have said so before.
Vive les etudiantes libre!
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