TORONTO, ONTARIO - 22 JUNE 2012 - As a class project of a Toronto Free Skule course, students unveiled red squares in the city today to draw attention to the abhorrent condition of Ontario’s post-secondary education system. Acting in solidarity with the “Maple Spring” student movement quickly spreading across Canada, they hope to inspire a greater awareness of the issues facing students in Ontario today. The red square, the iconic symbol of the Quebec student strike, signifies that students are “squarely in the red” - that is, deeply indebted because of the costs of education. The issues of debt and education costs are pressing for Ontario students, who pay the highest tuition in Canada. Students' human rights are being violated, and a major policy reversal is needed to correct these violations.
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| Toronto Free Skulers' Drop Banner above highway, June 22nd 2012 |
Canada's commitment to uphold the right to education is enshrined in several documents, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This treaty recognizes that “education is both a human right in itself and an indispensable means of realizing other human rights”. As part of this agreement, governments are obliged to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to education, by not creating barriers to education, and by actively supporting individuals and communities in attaining education. As well, the Covenant states: “Higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education”. Our government's obligation to uphold the right to education is crystal clear. But when we look at their actions, it is equally clear that they have ignored this responsibility.
Funding for education has been disappearing rapidly. While government funding once covered 80% of postsecondary operating costs, today it only covers 50%. Tuition fee hikes have been implemented to cover this funding shortfall, yet as we pay more, the quality of education falls. Between 1990 and 2006, the ratio of students to full time faculty increased by nearly 40%. Provincially, the government’s behaviour has been abhorrent. In the 1990s, under Premier Mike Harris, Ontario saw a 25% cut in funding for Ontario universities. In 1998, Harris deregulated tuition fees for all graduate and certificate professional programs, resulting in tuition fee hikes of over 500%. This has never been rectified! There is further evidence of displacement of funds: at times, the province of Ontario has decreased funding in the same year that the Canada Social Transfer has increased. Where’s our money actually going?
We must also look at the oppressive denial of education for First Nations, consistent with the systematic oppression on which Canada was and continues to be built. Between 1992 and 1997, the government shifted funding for First Nations’ post-secondary education to block funding, and in 1996, increase to funding was capped. Because of this, 10,500 First Nations youth were denied postsecondary funding between 2001 and 2006. First Nations, the fastest growing and youngest population in Canada, are systematically denied education. This is shameful, and unacceptable.
So, just how much have tuition fees gone up? In 1990/91 tuition fees were $1653; and for the 2011/12 school year, fees averaged an incredible $6640. Adjusted for inflation, tuition fees have seen a real increase of 244% since 1990, and they are projected to increase by 4-4.5% annually for the foreseeable future. Increasingly, the burden of education costs is being shifted onto the shoulders of students.
The debt load which accompanies these fees is daunting, with a provincial average of $26,000 for an undergraduate degree. This is understandably a huge obstacle, and a deterrent particularly for students from low-income backgrounds and students with children. Debt also has a negative effect on retention rates, and success. This is perpetuated through an extremely problematic loan system, the Ontario Student Assistance Program, or OSAP. After being assessed by OSAP, students are allotted extremely minimal living allowances amounting to a measly $7.50 per day for food. If a student is not healthy enough to think, isn’t their ability to enjoy education hindered?
Consequently, students with high debt levels are far less likely to complete their education; if they do graduate, their career choices are highly distorted by this burden. By forcing students to work while they study, we are preventing them from reaching their potential and in many cases keeping them from completing their education. On top of this, students pay high interest rates on their loans; this amounts to a penalty for lower-income students who are unable to afford tuition costs up front.
So what is the alternative? It would only cost $2.5 billion annually to eliminate tuition fees; $170 per household per year in income tax. Only $1.5 billion would reduce tuition fees to their 1992 levels. The unpopular corporate tax cuts of 2009 equal a loss of $1.6 billion in revenue this year; we would go a long way towards making education accessible by simply reversing the tax cut. More funding should also come from the federal government. If taxation rates were at the same level as they were in 2000, the federal government would be collecting $48 billion more in revenues each year; a mere tenth of this lost revenue would be enough to eliminate tuition fees for all attending postsecondary in Canada. As the government finds money for faulty fighter jets and corporate tax cuts, it is clear that cuts to education are not a product of necessity, but of misplaced priorities, and broken treaties.
Free or fully-funded tuition is not a radical or impossible demand; it has already been promised to us, and is fully attainable. The defunding we’ve seen over the last few decades violates human rights as it strips the youth of opportunities provided to previous generations. Instead of placing maximum resources in education, and instead of fulfilling their promise of protected, accessible, and free education, the government continues to cut corporate taxes and social funding. It's time for Canada to get its priorities straight. Students at the Toronto Free Skule, a democratic open-access school which runs every Sunday in Alexandra Park, will continue to find creative ways to draw attention to these pressing issues and build momentum around solutions. Keep your eyes open for more red squares appearing around Toronto - this movement isn’t going anywhere! For more information, contact: Sage.Indigo@gmail.com
