Another school year may have come and gone, but changes in the education system are afoot.
Earlier this month, Stephen Harper and the Conservative party earned their long sought after majority government in Canada’s federal election. Post-secondary education was one of the hot topics in each party’s platform.
“The Conservative government is committed to enhancing the Canada Student Loans Program for part-time students, and to respond to increased demand for assistance in career transition through post-secondary education,” said Tristan McLaughlin, a third-year political science student at Carleton University and director of communications with the Carleton Conservatives.
McLaughlin said the Conservative government has made investments to modernize rural infrastructure, including post-secondary institutions across the country, through Canada’s economic action plan.
“Initiatives undertaken by the Canadian government in respect to post-secondary education are by no means limited to these, and will develop as the mandate progresses,” McLaughlin said.
The Conservative government also pledged support for post-secondary education with over $700 million dollars in the 2011 federal budget. This was to provide loans for international students to help pay for their education, improve the support and funding of the Canada Student Loans Program, and to “extend support” for the Canada Youth Business Foundation. The foundation offers mentoring and loans to new entrepreneurs, according to the party’s official platform.
The promises put forward by the Conservative government have made waves with pro-Conservative and anti-Conservative students alike.
“I do like the plans the Conservative government has come up with for students,” said Jacob Emmerson, a Conservative supporter and second-year sociology major at Carleton University.. “In the proposed 2011 federal budget, there’s a lot of funding regarding research initiatives at Canadian universities. The Conservatives have also created grants programs to help deserving students cover the cost of steadily increasing tuition fees”.
Emmerson also said he believes the Conservative government will continue to promote the importance of a stable economy as well as create jobs, which would result in more career options for future post-secondary graduates.
Second-year industrial design student Nathaniel Hudson is also a supporter of the Conservative government, but sees no real changes in store for the post-secondary system.
“I don’t believe that post-secondary education should be free, nor do I believe that students should be left to pay it all on their own. I think the current system is a good compromise between the two.”
Second-year history major Joe Ryan does not agree with the incentives and direction put forward by the Conservative government.
“These incentives are aimed at middle-class families and students. In my opinion, these families have the credit and money to attend post-secondary institutions without government assistance,” said Ryan.
