With school back in full session, it is a busy time! For me, this is the time of year where I can connect with students, faculty and administrators of B.C.’s colleges and universities. As the Opposition critic for advanced education, youth and labour market development, I’ll have been to 14 schools around the province by the end of the month. Meeting with people face-to-face and seeing schools in full swing is integral to understanding what is happening in our post-secondary education system.
On campuses, you can see that university and college offer wonderful life experiences and incredible learning opportunities not only for students, but for all of us in society. Backing up this anecdotal experience is considerable evidence showing that post-secondary education has positive economic benefits for both individuals and our communities. A better wage is a likely outcome of post-secondary education — which is why people go back to school during economic downturns. Our province and our country also stand to benefit from the increased productivity, innovation and experience graduates bring to the job market.
With this in mind, it is important to recognize post-secondary education as not just a personal investment, but one the public makes as well. That’s why New Democrats believe it makes good economic sense to partner with students as they make this investment into our collective future.
Unfortunately, over the last 10 years, BC Liberals have failed to recognize this investment. Look at some of the realities students and their families face: Tuition has doubled since 2001, student grants are almost non-existent, and student debt has skyrocketed. British Columbians now graduate with the largest student debt in western Canada, at $27,000 for a four-year program. To make matters worse, once you get your repayment notice from Student Aid BC, you’ll also see that you are paying the highest interest rate on provincial student loans in Canada at prime plus 2.5 per cent.
For 10 years, students have been shouldering a greater share of the burden of post-secondary education as the Liberal government has made more and more cuts to student support. Over $97 million has been cut from student aid since 2001. That’s too much for too long. It’s time to change this.
On Sept. 12, Adrian Dix and I stood with students and faculty in Victoria (where I met some of our local youth going to school) to call for $100 million in needs-based student grants.
We want to see B.C. go from last to leaders in Canada when it comes to investing in our future. To do that, we propose a reinstatement of a minimal tax on banks to fund the program. After all, the promised job creation from rolling back that tax never happened. And since the financial sector heavily needs educated people to make their billions in profits, it is worth their while to join students, their families and the province to invest in post-secondary education.
Eighty per cent of jobs within the next few years will require some level of post-secondary education. We need to be ready to fill that demand. There is much we can do to make the necessary investments for our future prosperity. A healthy grants program is a start. Eliminating interest on student loans is another step in the right direction. These are feasible solutions that will strengthen our communities, our economy and our future. What a great return on our investment!
Michelle Mungall is the member of the legislative assembly for the Nelson-Creston provincial riding, and is the Opposition critic for advanced education, youth and labour market development.