oh MARCH 9, 1983 F by Dave Christian The Ministry of Education has handed down a set of six specified asssumptions for ed- ucational policy over the next five years. These assumptions focus on the fact that there will be a constant level of funding from the ministry for the next five years, and emphasis has been placed to provide a cons- ‘tant level of service with these dollars. The assumptions handed down by the ministry are: 1. Restraint will prevail. 2. Greater productivity is at- tainable. 3. Colleges have the capacity to produce greater revenue. 4. Facilities expenditure will _ ~ be limited. 5. Colleges have the capacity to shift programs. 6. The demand for services will be greater than the sup- ply. College President Bill Day, when asked if the College board has decided on how it will react to the Minister’s as- sumptions, replied: ‘‘Our stance has not yet been de- fined. A preliminary meeting will be held in April to give a preliminary set of state- ments.” ; Faculty reaction to the as- sumptions held ‘‘a fair degree assistant to the President, Ed Redmond. ‘‘There is ground by Dee Thomas College-Institute Educator's Association of B.C., has is- sued a critical, point-by-point ‘response to the B.C. Ministry of Education’s Five Year Plan. ' The C.1.E.A. paper describes the government’s Plan as a ‘‘blueprint for the destruction of the comprehensive com- munity college.’’ Jan Cioe, President of C.I.E.A., says that the statement ‘‘is a fairly accurate representation of the situation.”’ He believes that the Plan could be adopted by the Min- istry in the very near future. **We could be looking at the end of March 1983. If the Min- ister says, ‘it looks: good to me!’, it could be policy almost immediately. Vander Zalm is | not known for his great study | on issues.”’ | Both Cioe, and Frank Beinder, Executive Director of the B.C. Association of Colleges, are disturbed by the fact that the - Ministry of Education seem- ~ ingly introduced the Five Year Plan under a guise of econ- omiic restraint. ies Beinder says ‘‘most mem- bers of college boards are bus- iness people and understand that actions have to be taken rmenvhoonanhene of confusion’’ according to Ministry tells all for confusion in that this issue is different, the approach is different.”’ What is probably of greatest concern to students is how the Ministy’s policies, and the: Colleges’ reaction to them, will affect education — pro- grams. President Day said last week that ‘‘our job is not to turn away students. It is to jam every possible person we can in, without affecting the quality of education. Bill Day, interpreting the Ministry's stance on the issue said ‘‘It is easier to plug into an academic than an occupa- tional program, especially here on the Lower Mainland. Therefore, I feel that the Min- istry’s stance is based on the concern for economics and fairness of opportunity to even out Academic and Vocational programs.’’ Day stressed that this was only his interpreta- tion of the Ministry’s stance. * Day went on to say that the Apparent assumption of the Ministry is that there will be no more resources made avail- able to education than the present level. There may be less.’ This view was backed up by Ed Redmond who feels that ‘‘We’re looking at a per- iod of time over the next few years when resources to post- secondary institutions will be limited.”’ to deal with recession but most of them, to a large mea- sure are committed to a basic _ philosophy of the comprehen- sive nature of the community. We are saying we don’t like it,! although we will accept some- thing like this over the reces- sion period, but - we are not ready to co-operate in the demise of the community col- lege.”’ Cioe goes further. ‘‘The economic downturn has creat- ed the opportunity, an excuse to feveetnce fundamental changes to the college system. Restraint is not the issue!”’ One crucial area that the C.I.E.A. paper disputes is the ability of government planners to predict labour needs. Cioe explains that ‘‘senior bureau- crats want long range plans, but the foundation is so shaky because things change. They are only using their best guesses. Take the Syncrude project for example. The whole thing is going under.”’ The paper expresses’ grave concern that student choice in education is threatened. The result? A planned, cost effect- ive society. Beinder quite simply states, Thoughtfull Douglas College student takes direct action on lack of; | push/ pull signs on doors in college. photo by Sean Valentin Job Mart is a Ripoff A campaign of information, picketing and legal action ag- ainst a Vancouver employ- ment agency was launched Wednesday, March 2 by the unemployment committee of the Vancouver and District Labour Council. Job Mart, a city firm prom- ising the unemployed access to lists of jobs for a $50 fee is the target of the committee’s action. Users of the firm’s ser- vice have complained that Job Mart’s listings merély dupli- cate jobs advertised in news- papers or at Manpower off- “there is low emphasis on anything other than occupa- tional - related training. With respect to pa sae rather than job related educational goals, jthere is little sense of convic- 'tion.’” Cioe is convinced that the Ministry defines quality edu- cation relevant to a job. ‘“The critical skills of assessing, looking at the larger picture, the questioning; how then is that ‘relevant’?’’ The ministry, it seems, has been brainstorming to come up with a mathematical form- ula to compute education costs. Cioe asks, ‘‘but what is the outcome? Simplistic equa- tions mask the complexity. It appears that it doesn’t make any difference what the pro- duct is. You get a distortion if you just look at dollars.”’ What does this all mean for prospective students looking for a college education?» You may not be able to get the courses you want, in» your community, and- you may be provided with little incentive, ie. - lack of financial support; if you choose a program that the Ministry hasn’t tagged ‘priority’. ices. As well, the provincial Em- ployment Standard Act specif- ically forbids employment agencies levying a fee for pro- viding information about jobs to job seekers. “Companies like Job Mart are just set up to take more money from the unemployed, ** said Kim Zander, co- ordinator of the Vancouver Unemployment Action Centre. ‘‘We intend to pursue all le- gal ways to get them shut down and make sure people’s $50 are refunded.”’ The C.I.E.A. paper indicates that the Ministry has been considering KNOW (Know- ledge Network) and OLI, (Open Learning Institute) as substitutes, to ‘fill in the gaps’. But Cioe is concerned about the quality, and ques- tions it’s’ cost-effectiveness. ‘Somehow, someone in the Ministry thinks KNOW and OLI will be cheaper. We've never seen any studies that this is so...our concern is that there may still be a lack of choice. Students may be told, you get it through OLI or not at allz’ Also, the age-old concern about post-secondary educa- tion being accessible only to the elite, seems to be return- ing - stronger this time. According to Cioe, the Five Year Plan is looking to ‘‘cost recovery at colleges. The im- plication is that fees have to go up. Among other things, the colleges have provided an op- portunity for people who’ve been out of education a chance to get it. Wipe out the colleges , and we .won’t get them all going to University. They’re into it in a very tentative way, because it’s accessible. It goes The Unemployment Action Centre was established in De- cember 1982 by the VDLC‘S unemployment committee. The Centre is staffed by volun- teers, offering counselling and other forms of assistance to ‘anyone--union or not--having problems with unemployment insurance claims, welfare ben- efits, job conditions, or other problems arising from unem- ployment. The Action Centre is located in the auditorium of the Fisherman’s Hall, 138 East Cordova St., Vancouver. Five Year Plan - Blueprint For Destruction from intimidation of the U.B.C: campus to Douglas’ one main building. It can be quite awesome.”’ 2 So, what can we éxpect? Beinder, of the B.C.A.C, says ‘‘we have been in very close council with the Mini- stry. They have no doubts about how we feel. Rolling over on our backs? We are a long way from that.”’ Cioe, President of C.I.E.A., concurs. ‘‘Our approach has been to try to influence min- istry people. Our defense sys- tem has been weakened by government. When local fund- ing was changed to provincial, they wanted more say. With the kind of power structure we have now, boards are more receptive to government.”’ “The vitality of community colleges has come from the people. A feeling of control. It waS a gfass-roots movement. All of this is in danger.”’ Cioe expects the Plan to be adopted. ‘‘They (Ministry) fully intend to go through with it. None of this - what does the community think about it...’’ Even Beinder admits, ‘‘I have my doubts about what anyone can do at the mo- ment.”’