Education in Alberta
Last Tuesday, February 8, Premier Ralph Klein announced new plans to invest in students and in post-secondary education in Alberta. This is welcome news for Albertans and for Alberta, even if the premier's plan does not have many details. The details of the plan will be presented in Bill 1 on March 1, the day that the Assembly will open its new session in Edmonton. But the fact that it will be the first bill introduced by the government sends a signal of the level of commitment of the government toward it, placing it even ahead of health.
In his announcement, Klein described a freeze in tuition for post-secondary students for the next school year, as well as the addition of 60 000 new places in Colleges, universities and technical colleges as well as in apprenticeship positions in the next 15 years, bringing the total number of places to 240 000, nearly one quarter of a million. These measures will likely take Alberta out of the Canadian basement in terms of investment per capita in post secondary education among the provinces.
Universities should not get too excited, however. It is possible that the lion's share of the 60 000 places announced will be allocated on the basis market imperatives, and therefore will have to be created in training institutes and technical colleges. I am not expecting too many new classrooms in the departments of anthropology or sociology, for example. Will there be anything for the arts? We'll have to wait to see what the criteria for the allocations will be.
One thing that is patently missing in the government's announcements is a plan to deal with elementary and high schools. Something will have to be done there too, beside the purchase of flashy technology for the classrooms. New computers and projectors will not be able to teach the students how to read and write propoerly. In the last decade, the quality of students coming into post secondary institutions has declined significantly. If the government refuses to tackle the erosion of education in the schools, much of the investment in post secondary education may be wasted as the problems that will be transferred from the schools to the universities and colleges. There is need for a more comprehensive strategy.
In his announcement, Klein described a freeze in tuition for post-secondary students for the next school year, as well as the addition of 60 000 new places in Colleges, universities and technical colleges as well as in apprenticeship positions in the next 15 years, bringing the total number of places to 240 000, nearly one quarter of a million. These measures will likely take Alberta out of the Canadian basement in terms of investment per capita in post secondary education among the provinces.
Universities should not get too excited, however. It is possible that the lion's share of the 60 000 places announced will be allocated on the basis market imperatives, and therefore will have to be created in training institutes and technical colleges. I am not expecting too many new classrooms in the departments of anthropology or sociology, for example. Will there be anything for the arts? We'll have to wait to see what the criteria for the allocations will be.
One thing that is patently missing in the government's announcements is a plan to deal with elementary and high schools. Something will have to be done there too, beside the purchase of flashy technology for the classrooms. New computers and projectors will not be able to teach the students how to read and write propoerly. In the last decade, the quality of students coming into post secondary institutions has declined significantly. If the government refuses to tackle the erosion of education in the schools, much of the investment in post secondary education may be wasted as the problems that will be transferred from the schools to the universities and colleges. There is need for a more comprehensive strategy.
posted by kaqchikel at
2/11/2005 09:08:00 PM
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