The $1-billion package Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff promised in financial grants to high school students going into post-secondary institutions could be spent more effectively elsewhere, according to the Canadian Federation of Students.
“The Learning Passport will be a powerful tool for reducing barriers to attending college and university, increasing the flow of highly skilled workers into the Canadian economy,” Ignatieff announced March 29.
The “Learning Passport” program would give $1,000 to each student per year and $1,500 to each low-income student per year for four years through existing registered education savings plans (RESPs), according to a Liberal press release. The program would take effect under a Liberal government once Canada’s $40-billion budget deficit has been eliminated.
CFS national deputy chairperson Shelley Melanson said she is pleased overall to see a federal party’s investment in non-repayable grants but is concerned about the delivery mechanism.
“We would support a similar system . . . instead of RESP’s. It’s almost creating another hoop students have to jump through for money,” she said.
Melanson said it would be better to put funding in the student loans program which is already set in place.
She said over 50 per cent of low-income students are accessing the Canadian Student Loan System, which is much better than having to set up an RESP account in advance.
Promoting student loans would only increase student debt, according to Jim Turk, executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers. He suggests the money be distributed throughout the provinces for social assistance.
Both groups agree that the Liberal proposal is a good start, but money needs to be redirected and increased to solve the real financial issues of post-secondary education.
“The only solution is to seriously reduce or eliminate tuition. I’m less excited because it deals indirectly with the problem,” Turk said. He said a $1,000 grant would likely be cancelled out by rising tuition fees.
The passport does not seem to have gotten much positive reaction from student voters either.
The grant has been criticized because it would not benefit current students and graduate students by relieving them of any student debt.
“I’m a mature student and went back to school 10 years later so it does absolutely nothing for me,” said Alyssa Hamilton, a third-year Carleton University humanities student.
She said there should not be so much of a push for students to go straight to university after high school.
Hamilton said the government should stop gearing scholarships and bursaries to high school students as much because it only benefits one type of student.
Ian Macleod, a third-year biochemistry student at Queen’s University, said the passport is a good idea but will not sway his vote one way or another in the federal election either.
“I think it’s cheap pandering to the student vote. Pretty stupid too since they obviously only added it to their platform to appeal to university kids, but it will only benefit high-schoolers who are just too young to vote,” he said.