WATERLOO, Ont. (CUP) — Mike Dwyer, a student at
Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont., is the first one in his
family to make it to college or university, which makes him exactly the
kind of student the Ontario government wants to see more of.
Premier Dalton McGuinty announced on Aug.
30 the initiation of a $6-million program to provide funding
specifically for first generation students.
According to Statistics in Ontario, students
are less likely to pursue post-secondary education if no one else in their
family has before.
Chris Bentley, Minister of Training, Colleges,
and University, says that students do not progress to post-secondary
studies "for a variety of reasons," but cites financial
barriers and a lack of knowledge about college and university programs
as two key reasons.
Bentley says that the new program seeks
to address these issues by allocating $1 million to student bursaries
and $5 million to colleges, universities, and community groups to
promote post-secondary education in their local areas.
Dwyer, 20, is in his third year of the
economics program at Laurier. Neither of his parents went on to post-secondary
studies, and his older sister didn’t complete high school. Originally
from Newfoundland,
Dwyer said he was encouraged at an early age by his family and his
teachers to throw himself into academics.
"It's a dying place," said
Dwyer of his old home and the lack of job opportunities there. "They
don't want you to be on welfare or social assistance for the rest of
your life — it's a trap there."
Dwyer says that his parents were
certainly intelligent enough to go to college or university, but
neither could afford to. Dwyer's acceptance to Laurier was a triumph
for the entire family.
"They were just insanely excited,"
he said. "For two weeks my dad was just calling everybody —
people from our extended family. It was big because no one in even my
extended family has ever gone to university."
He said that for many students with a
family history of post-secondary graduates, getting into a college or
university is more of an expectation rather than an exception.
"To them, it's not a big deal, but
for me, I knew that if I never made it to university my parents would
be disappointed," said Dwyer, who receives substantial financial
assistance from his mother and father. "My dad really hates
construction and always wanted me to go to university. It would break [my
parents'] hearts if I had to work in a factory of construction."
Dwyer says that a college or university
education is more necessary now in an extremely competitive Canadian
job market.
"I'm hearing people say more and
more that the BA [bachelor of arts degree] is just the new high school."
The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS)
agrees that creating more opportunities for people like Dwyer is
something positive, but say the Ontario
government's latest effort sends a "contradictory message."
"This shameless stunt spends $5 on
advertising campaigns for every dollar committed to the grants program
itself," said Jesse Greener, Ontario chairperson of the CFS.
“It's really low-income families
that don't participate in post-secondary education," said Greener.
According to the Youth In Transition
Study, authored by Statistics Canada and Human Resources and Skills
Development Canada, 76 per cent of high school students went on to post-secondary
studies in 2003.
But there remains a high discrepancy
between students from low income and high income families: In their 2004
report "The Price of Knowledge", the Canadian Millennium
Scholarship foundation noted that Canadian students from the country's
highest income families were twice as likely to attend university as
those from families with lower incomes.
Greener feels the government is unfairly
hiking tuition rates and forcing students into mounting debt that
outstrips investment in student aid.
“For every dollar allocated to
student financial aid, more than $1.30 will be clawed back through
tuition fee hikes,” he said.
Bentley says that the statistics don't
support the position taken by the CFS.
"I am confident that post-secondary
education is more affordable now than it was two years ago," said
Bentley. "We've doubled student aid in 2006-2007, how can anyone
be against that?"
Aldith Carasquero is a co-ordinator at Seneca College's
Centre for Outreach Education (SCOrE) in Toronto. The Ontario First Generation
Student Bursary was largely modeled after SCOrE's successful program, which
took economically and educationally disadvantaged youth and made them
the first in their families to attend college or university. SCOrE
found that 75 per cent of their first-year students last year are
returning this year to continue their education.
She disagrees with the CFS and says the
government's First Generation plan is "a great initiative."
While she agrees that tuition remains a
tough barrier, Carasquero points out that funding is also needed to
provide regular academic counselling, textbook subsidies, and even
transportation assistance for students in these support programs. She
feels that the $5 million set aside for the schools and communities to
bolster their first generation programs will be money well spent.
"I think we have to look at the
bigger picture," she said. "If you want to break the cycle of
poverty, you need an education. We've [at SCOrE] been successful
because I feel that we're connected with the students and we understand
all their barriers."
