Government & Policy
Premier’s Annual Televised Address Raises Post-Secondary Expectations
Premier Klein, in his annual broadcast to the province on Tuesday, highlighted his government’s new-found commitment to Alberta’s post-secondary education sys-tem. More details will be forthcoming in the spring session of the legislature, in which the first item on the agenda will be the ‘Access to the Future Act’ (Bill 1), focusing on post-secondary education.
- Fully-Funded One-Year Tuition Freeze
Mr. Klein announced that the government will pick up the $43 million cost of tuition increases at public post-secondary institutions for 2005/06. This is a one-time ‘centennial gift’ to students from the province – it is not a rollback – but the premier went on to promise that the government ‘will define a new tuition policy for the 21st century’ before September 2006. In Klein’s words:
‘It will be the most innovative, entrepreneurial, and affordable tuition policy in the country – one that reflects the shared responsibility of students, parents, educators and administrators. We will do whatever it takes to make sure money isn’t a barrier to attending Alberta’s post-secondary institutions.’
The Minister of Advanced Education, Dave Hancock, later said that the government will be undertaking ‘a comprehensive review of the affordability of post-secondary education in Alberta’, with any changes to be implemented by September 2006. However, while the government recognizes the need to ensure that cost is not a barrier for post-secondary students, tuition ‘is only part of the picture,’ according to Mr. Hancock. The government’s proposed review, which will involve students, business and ‘ordinary’ Albertans, ‘will look at all aspects of affordability – student assistance, scholarships, bursaries, access for Albertans in rural and remote areas, as well as tuition.’
Again, the Minister insisted that whatever changes are implemented for 2006/07 and beyond ‘will continue to recognize the shared responsibility that students, parents, institutions, and government have in paying the cost of post-secondary education.’ (This reference to the government’s role did not appear in the Premier’s address.) The bottom line here seems to be that, while the tuition freeze will provide welcome relief to Alberta post-secondary students this year, terms of a multi-year deal remain to be worked out.
- Access
Premier Klein, responding to public pressure, also announced that ‘immediate action will be taken to create more spaces at Alberta’s universities, colleges and institutes’. According to Mr. Klein, the government will undertake to create 15,000 new spaces in the post-secondary system over the next three years; 30,000 after six years; and 60,000 by the year 2020. ‘With that added space,’ the Premier stated, ‘we’ll have the highest rates of post-secondary education in the country.’
Details of this initiative remain sketchy at this stage, but Minister Hancock insisted that the government ‘will put the necessary funding in place to support the additional student spaces,’ and promised more specifics in the Budget, expected in April. New spaces will be not only in universities, colleges and technical institutes, but also in apprenticeship, literacy and life-long learning programs. “We want to inspire Albertans to learn, and to find the post-secondary opportunities they want here in their home province – whether it’s a degree, a diploma, or a trade certificate,’ said Mr. Hancock. He admitted that ‘There’s no secret the demand for post-secondary has been growing and we haven’t kept up with the growth. There’s a process we have to catch up on, then more needs to be done to head into the new century.’
The bottom line here was not immediately clear – that will have wait for the Budget – but the Minister did reveal that, while the universities and colleges will get new buildings and budget increases, this will account ‘only for some of the 30,000 [new spaces by 2011] and some of the 60,000 new spots envisioned by 2020.’
Mr. Hancock told the media that these figures represent ‘not just physical spots to sit,’ but ‘the ability of students to access programs right across the province,’ and will include, for example, spaces in ‘virtual’ classrooms and in apprenticeship programs. More details are to be announced in due course, but the Minister was quoted as saying, ‘It’s a different equation on each campus. When we talk about 60,000 spaces, we ought not to think of actually building another university with 60,000 spaces.’
Mr. Hancock indicated that, while consideration is being given to Mount Royal College’s request for mandate change, a decision on whether to create Mount Royal University is not among his immediate priorities.
- Vision for Post-Secondary
The Minister, echoing the Premier, issued a strong statement affirming the government’s commitment to post-secondary as ‘a major component of Alberta’s 20-year strategic plan.’
“Building a knowledge-based culture will secure Alberta’s place as a world-class centre in academics, trades, and technologies,’ Mr. Hancock said. ‘The measures announced by the Premier in his televised address are bold first steps in a year that will reaffirm the government’s focus on the post-secondary front, and will further demonstrate our commitment to advance education, our vision for the future, and our intent to transform Alberta into a world-leading learning society in the 21st century.’
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ACIFA President Responds to the Premier’s Address
For the past decade and more, post-secondary education has endured a funding drought that has left our system impoverished and struggling, while the demands on it continue to increase. The message from stakeholders and voters during the recent provincial election was clear – re-investment in post-secondary is overdue. Finally, the provincial government seems to be responding.
In his annual televised address on February 8th, Premier Klein offered increasingly hard-pressed post-secondary students some immediate relief, in the form of a fully-funded tuition hike holiday for this year, with an undertaking to review the whole issue of affordability and come up with a new tuition fee policy by the fall of September 2006. At the same time, Mr. Klein also promised wider access for Albertans by increasing the number of post-secondary spaces by 15,000 over the next three years, and 60,000 over the next 15 years. No dollar figures were attached, but Minister Hancock made clear that the government is committed to provide the necessary funding for these new places.
As members of ACIFA, you can take pride in our role in the effective advocacy campaign which was required to shift government thinking. Of course, no single group or institution could have moved the government. Our lobbying needed to be inclusive, positive, and very powerful to be heard over the many other areas of need (health care and BSE to name a couple) competing for attention in our province. ACIFA took an active part in the ‘Wise Up’ coalition of groups representing some 200,000 post-secondary faculty and students, and in the even more broadly-based ‘Fair Deal’ campaign of Public Interest Alberta, which brings together a wide range of groups and individuals seeking to defend and enhance public services, including PSE.
Expectations of ‘Bill 1’ and the spring Budget are running high. There are hopeful signs in the recent public statements of the Premier, and the new Minister of Advanced Education, acknowledging the govern-ment’s responsibility to do something about post-secondary education, and setting out a vision for the future. Certainly, the public profile of PSE has never been so high, and the politicians do seem to have woken up to the benefits of a strong post-secondary system.
We still face many significant problems, exacerbated by years of neglect: deferred maintenance of infra-structure, the urgent need to attract and retain new faculty, and the struggle to keep up with advances in technology, to name just a few. What we need now is the rational, predictable, and sustainable funding from government which will allow us to overcome these challenges and provide the PSE system Albertans want.