Read the Axworthy report,
says College President

 

College President Bill
Day says people should
read federal minister of
Human Resources Lloyd
Axworthy’s paper because
it proposes approaches to
problems that aren’t going
to go away.

“A lot of people
haven’t looked at it.
Before anyone takes a
position, it’s very
important that they read
the entire report, which
deals with employment,
education and training,
and social services.”

Among other things,
the report proposes
eliminating federal
transfers to the provinces
for post-secondary
education, raising tuition
fees, and providing a large
pool of money for student
loans that would be repaid

 

 

 

 

based on future income.

Income-contingent
repayment schemes for
student loans contained in
the paper are the most
controversial point for students and
educators, but Day says that making loan
repayment dependent upon income after
graduation is simply one way of dealing
with the pressure to reduce expenditures.

“If the proposal is unacceptable we
owe it to our government to produce
alternatives. Outright denial solves
nothing, because the federal government
still has to reduce expenditures and every
group affected will resist,” says Day. “If
the consensus is that nobody wants
substantial changes, then we must accept
higher taxes, and few people are
demanding higher taxes.”

Day says that his worst worry, given
that present funding formulas for
education are “clearly breaking down” at
the federal and provincial levels is that the
federal government will shrink away from
it and do nothing. “This is basically what
groups across Canada are telling the
government to do, by urging them to
maintain the status quo.”

Students gathered in the concourse January 25 to protest federal government proposals
that would change the funding formula for post-secondary education.

Day says people who read the report
will understand that income contingent
repayments are in addition to, not a
substitute for, the existing financial aid
system. The present transfers will come
to an end within eight years anyway under
the present agreement. He says the big
issue is the social impact of the proposed
changes.

“The implications are what nobody is
certain about. It could open up
opportunities for people who haven’t had
access to education before because it
would create a vast loan fund. Then, if
you get a low-paying job after graduation,
you pay it back slowly, and if you get a
good job, you pay it back more quickly.”

It’s problematic, says Day, because
nobody knows what the outcome will be
in terms of cost-benefit, or whether the
social implications will be progressive or
regressive.

“We could say we don’t know what
the implications are, so to be prudent, we

shouldn’t do it. Or, we could climb down
the cliff a little, and see what happens. Or
we could say, it’s too big a jump, we can’t
handle it. In any case, B.C. has been
reducing per capita spending on students
over the past five years through gradual
squeezes, and will likely continue. Fee
increases are inevitable.”

Day says that the College will, over the
next month, organize ways for College
students, faculty, staff and administrators
to explore the proposal and alternatives to
it.

“There will be a program of activities
to let students, staff and faculty have the
opportunity to discuss and consider
options and to leave ourselves better
educated. It is incumbent upon us to
come up with alternatives if we reject the
Axworthy proposals.” fl