But there’s good reason for the Chilean students to make noise. In Quebec, there isn’t.
Students in Chile pay roughly $3,400 a year in university tuition, in a country where the average household income is $8,500. For Quebeckers to pay the same proportion, their tuition fees would have to be $25,000. Instead, they pay $2,500 a year. In other words, for every dollar paid by a Chilean student and his or her family, Quebec students pay 10 cents.
And Chile is one of the world’s most unequal societies.
---------
Funny - I'd opine that the BEST time to 'make noise' is wayyy BEFORE Chile's scenario.
Swell - it could be worse.
Now let's look at the OTHER end of this continuum, for context.
------------------
D - a summary of cheap European universities.
Shocking as it may seem to many Canadians, Norweigians don’t charge any tuition to anyone—which was, until recently, normal in Scandinavia. Now, Denmark, Finland and Sweden all charge tuition fees, leaving Norway the only free option.
----------
D - at some point, high tuition renders a degree simply not worthwhile.
D - A bachelor's degree just isn't what it used to be.
D - coupla thoughts:
1) In the USA, gone are the days when a student could use part time and summer jobs to graduate debt-free. In Ontario, I'd earn c. $10,000 per year this way. That assumes c. min. wage, 20hrs/wk for 8mo, and 40hrs/wk for summer.
2) I DO like the idea of students paying SOME tuition. Say about 10% of costs - even less than Quebec. Many will object this is a merely token amount that serves no purpose.
Not true - the literacy group I'm a trained tutor for charges the students for the cost of materials. Why? It gives the students ( or "learners") a vested interest - a stake. Same reason we toss them back to the start of the line-up if they don't attend.
No comments:
Post a Comment