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E OTHER PRESS:

 

 

MARCH 16, 1983

The Other Press Interviews

The interview was conducted by
‘Nancy Powell and Glen Nazaruk.
Photo work by Sean Valentini.

Q-Assuming that you are giving the five year plan
serious consideration, and realizing that this will
mean an end to personal education, and an emph-
asis on technical training, do you not feel that an
. education in liberal arts is important?
A-Well of course the five year plan is only a
proposal, and there is ample opportunity for not
only written submissions or for presentations
from variou$ boards and faculty groups but simi-
larly there will be perhaps a symposium or some
public imput. So, that whatever their views, there
will not just be written submissions considered by
the ministry staff, there will be an opportunity for
the public to air their views, so the people who
pay for the system, the people who will benefit
om the system, will know what considerations
went into the final decision. So it’s an on going
process right now. It’s a proposal, as a matter of
fact. A proposal that was prepared prior to my
time so I can’t take any credit for it as a minister. I
can only, I suppose, hopefully take some credit
when we finally adopt the outcome, but I can see
that there will be many changes made and I
suppose one of the dangers of making any five
year plan is that the issues change.
Q-What will be the role of community colleges in
the future?
A-I think that they will continue to be a growing’
influence. The college system in British Colum-.
bia, on a per capita basis, has grown more rapidly
than any similar system anywhere in North Amer-
ica, and I can see that this trend will continue. A
lot of people are choosing the college system not
only because it is perhaps more locally available

for their academic pursuits or what ever but
certainly it’s also cheaper. More importantly I
think to a lot of people is that it’s no where near as
structured as a university and a lot of people
choose to attend college for many of their academ-
ic courses as opposed to going to university. So I
think that there will be a growing role for colleges
and we see it now. There has been a tremendous
amount of expansion. I’ve participated in more
college openings and expansions in the last 3
months than I have in any other type of similar
‘activity.

A-On the Jack Webster Show you were quoted as
saying ‘‘instructors would work 14 hours a week.”’
A-I think that’s a wrong statement because if
instructors instruct 14 hours a week that is a
correct statement. You can’t say how long they
work. It varies. Some instructors will work 25, 35,
40...some even more than that. It’s the amount of
instruction.(With regards to the interview Vander
Zalm had with Webster). Well, Webster was
looking at a document that had been prepared by
the ministry which provided the amount of inst-
ruction time that is given by instructors on aver-
age. But to say that they work 14 hours a week is
incorrect. I think that maybe the way it was read
by Webster gave one the impression that perhaps
this meant work. Some instructors maybe don’t
put in that many hours but, there’s no doubt that
some instructors work a whole lot of hours, it
varies from individual to individual.

Q-35 school boards in B.C. have opposed you,

_asking for your resignation. How do you feel

about this?

A-It’s largely on the basis of budgetary decisions
and it’s much easier to be a minister when you've
got lots of money to spend so you can go back to
the pot and grab a little more when ever you want
it. When you are faced with diminishing revenue
you have to look at how to locate it considering a
shortage of funds. So there has been some consid-

 

A lot of people are choosing the college system, not only
because it is perhaps more locally availablefor their
academic pursuits...but also (because its’ )cheaper.

 

Tl be Education Minister for the

duration, and after, who’s to say?

erable opposition from school boards in the way in
which the restraint programme has been applied.
Q-What can young people expect in the future?

A-I think that they probably have a greater oppor-
tunity available now than what previous genera-
tions had. The facilities are much better and
provide for a far greater variety of opportunity.
We're a smaller world in a sense, we’re no longer
just Alberta, or Saskatchewan, or for that matter
the U.S. or Canada but the world. So it’s a very,

.challenging time but one where we certainly have

a tremendous amount of opportunity. It’s too bad,
in a way, that we’re in an economic recession
right now because a lot of people suffer by it,
especially the unemployed. On the other hand,
it’s also, I suppose, a type of learning, you have to
learn to cope with varying circumstances. You'
have to understand that the family, the com-
munity, and even the country for that matter, will
not always be in the same situation. Economic
situations will change.

Q-How long do you expect to be Education Min-
ister?

A-I’ll be Education Minister for the duration and
after, who’s to say? I’ll be Education Minister
until next election or until I-don’t want to be.
Q-How do you feel about the overwhelming op-
position to your educational policies?

A-Well, the difficulty with being in government is
that you have to provide some reasonable bal-
ance. You will always have the pressures of.
various groups in society who’ believe they are
more deserving than others. But then I suppose
everybody thinks they are more deserving than
somebody else. When I deal with schools and when
I deal with college boards, well, naturally the
inclination is for all of them to say, well you know
it’s apples and oranges and we're the oranges.
But I’ve found very few apples in B.C.-they’re all
oranges. Education is a very powerful lobby, we
have a lot of people involved in the education
process. More people perhaps, in a single area
than any other type of endeavour. It’s a very large
lobby, it’s a very effective lobby. Organizations
like the BCTF have a lot of resources behind
them.

Q-According to statistics from the Faculty Asso-
ciation, B.C. spends the lowest percentage of tax
dollars on education. nay
A-You can take any set of figures and you can put

 

 

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