OTTAWA (CUP) — Post-secondary education is at the forefront of a new study launched earlier this month by the standing Senate committee on social affairs, science and technology.
On Oct. 7, senators held their first round of hearings on Parliament Hill to look into a variety of issues surrounding post-secondary institutions and students in Canada, including financial support, barriers facing various ethnic and cultural groups, importance of research, internationalization of studies and the creation of a national post-secondary education strategy.
“It’s [been] over 10 years since the Senate has looked at post-secondary education,” said Prince Edward Island Senator Catherine S. Callbeck, a member of the committee and the original sponsor of the Senate study.
“Since that time, there have been a lot of changes [ . . . ] they’re telling us that 70 per cent of those new jobs by 2015 are going to require some post-secondary education, so it’s important that we get as many Canadians equipped with post-secondary education as possible.”
Paul Cappon, president and CEO of the Canadian Council on Learning, was the first of several witnesses to share some perspective with the committee, and highlighted the importance of creating a national post-secondary education strategy.
“Because Canada has no genuine public policy on PSE, beyond a general support for research, financing, and access to institutions and a desire that they be of high quality, it will be impossible for our governments to respond to contentious and important controversies like that over research,” he told the committee on Oct. 7, according to the unofficial parliamentary transcript.
Cappon also explained that the “jurisdictional barriers” and other constitutional concerns can not get in the way of developing a nationwide post-secondary education strategy.
“Some would argue that it is easier for Canadians to study in Europe than it is in the province next door in post secondary education because they have systems for transfer credits and prior learning assessment recognition that we do not have across the provinces on a national basis in Canada,” he noted.
Paul Davidson, president and CEO of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, the second committee witness, pointed out that while Canada does enjoy some post-secondary successes, there is still work to be done.
“Let us remember that today there are over 1.5 million students in the higher education system across Canada, and there has been a 40 per cent increase in the number of spaces available in the last decade. Those are real accomplishments that parties on all sides of the house can take pride in,” he told the committee on Oct. 7. “That said, there is more to be done on accessibility, and particularly with regard to Aboriginal accessibility.”
Callbeck agreed that investigating accessibility issues is at the top of the agenda.
“What we’re looking at right now are the barriers, trying to figure out exactly what the challenges are, who’s going to university and who isn’t,” she said. “Aboriginal [students] — we’re going to spend quite a bit of time looking at that whole area, [along with] students with disabilities, immigrants, ethnic groups [ . . . ] then we’re going to look at the federal programs for students, analyze those, see which ones are working, and which aren’t, and what recommendations we have to improve them.”
Ontario Senator Art Eggleton, chair of the committee, indicated at the inaugural meeting that the hearings were the first of approximately 20 that will be held over the next several months before eventually bringing recommendations to the government.
