pose a threat to the academic integrity of the
grading system and scale. Many classes are
graded ona curve-so if students cheat, it can
very literally impact the grades of students
who did not cheat and were deserving of

a higher grade. And the solutions for this
issue aren't exactly perfect either; Vancouver
resident Caitlin Barker had to do her exam
for her Ontario university under the careful
watch of a security officer looking at her
through a webcam for three hours. Many
factors can influence how well a student
takes a test (e.g., test anxiety), so it could

be possible that such a method of security

would actually decrease student scores.

The positives of online learning

While it is obvious there are many
educational benefits that come with face to
face instruction, there are also many perks in
online classes to consider. For instance, say
goodbye to that pesky morning commute.
According to a 2019 Bloomberg article,

the average student's commute is about 18
minutes long. The most common commute
averaged at five to ten minutes, and a small
percentage of students have commutes that
go over an hour. Also consider the money
you could be saving on gas and food from

going to and from campus every week. And,

clearly, a lack of transmission of diseases and
illnesses comes with online classes. However,
this is all “silver-lining” speculation.

Why do only post-secondary students
have to do online classes in the fall?

In May, Dr. Bonnie Henry said in a Province
of BC video to teachers and staff that all
schools were safe to open and described
safety measures that have been put in place.
Elementary and high school classes are
beginning in-person teaching in September
with a regulated number of students. It is
worth mentioning though that many teachers

and students have said
they are afraid going to school.
Some teachers are even suggesting
students to wear masks. Yet nearly all universities
are continuing with solely online teaching. Why is
Douglas, and many other post-secondary institutions,
not allowing in-person classes with some regulations?
Some Say it is to reduce the possibility of spreading
COVID and to keep students safe, but this contradicts
expert Dr. Bonnie Henry's statement about schools
being safe to open.

Others argue the reason for having online
classes only is colleges and universities catering to
international students because of the money the
school makes off of them. A Vancouver Sun article
argues this point efficiently; foreign students often
pays fees four times that of local pupils and this
shows in the $22-billion dollars international students
bring in annually. A Kwantlen Polytech University
political scientist, Shinder Purewal, claims in the
aforementioned article that his school would suffer
without international students. “[KPU] relies so much
on international students that it would collapse as an
institution without their money.

Douglas College may also be in the same boat
in that regard. According to their 2020 international
viewbook, in 2019, Douglas hosted 3,700
international students from 90 different countries.
According to the Douglas website, international
student tuition currently is priced on a per credit
basis. One full year of studying at Douglas costs
international students about $18,000—plus fees of
course. That’s about $66,600,000 dollars in tuition
in 2019 if all those students studied for a full year.
Having in-person classes, and thereby shutting out

international students who left and cannot come

back because of border closures, would
certainly be a hit for the college.

Why isn't tuition being lowered?
As mentioned before, UBC and SFU are going ahead
with scheduled fee increases. But it is also important
to mention no UBC or SFU workers have lost their
jobs due to COVID-19 as reported by the Vancouver
Sun. While that is a positive, it can also be viewed asa
negative. In some comparable Canadian universities,
much of the budget is spent on paying the staff.
According to a CBC article, “At Dalhousie University in
Halifax, for example, compensation for faculty and staff
is 72 percent of the total budget.” On this contentious
issue, Douglas College English Professor Chris Maguire
states that he knows students that use the food bank, so
we should be reducing tuition. Thor Borgford, academic
vice-president and provost at Douglas acknowledges
the difficulty of the transition to distance education, but
states this: “While the delivery format of our courses has
changed, these courses continue to be taught by the
same experienced faculty as they would be in person.”
While is it true that the same experienced teachers
will be available, Maguire does not believe that
the quality of the education will be up to the same
standard: “We weren't prepared to do this. We pulled
it out in a fortnight,” he states of the teachers creating
online course material. “Mostly it wasn’t that terrible
but if you teach skills like | do in languages, it’s not like
| can just lecture—I have to do it synchronously with the
class, | can’t do it asynchronously like some courses.”

While elementary and high schools get into full swing
next month, post-secondary institutions err on the

side of caution by keeping with online class delivery.
Whether it be for financial concerns or the health and
safety of students we will never know. It may sound like
a nightmare to students now, and it may seem like there
are more cons than pros in online education-however,
there are also many perks of online classes that go
overlooked and we should all keep an open mind
about the upcoming semester.

 
   
  
    
  
   
 
 
  
 
  
  
  
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
 
 
  
  
  

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Illustration by Udeshi Seneviratne