CAUT | ACPPU
Canadian Association of University Teachers
| CAUT supports Quebec students’ protests to maintain accessibility |
| (Thursday, March 22, 2012)
- The Canadian Association of University Teachers joins with our colleagues in the Fédération québécoise des professeures et professeurs d’université (FQPPU) in expressing support for Quebec students currently opposing higher tuition fees announced by the Charest government. We also deplore the excessive force that has too often been used against student demonstrators. Quebec universities require more funding, but shifting the burden to students and their families is counterproductive. CAUT’s policy is that tuition charged to students must be kept as low as possible with the goal of moving toward a zero tuition policy. The reasons are many. A high tuition policy makes post-secondary education less accessible to students with modest means. Access to post-secondary education should be decided by ability and interest, not family wealth or willingness to undertaken substantial debt. On average, university and college graduates more than pay the cost of their education due to the higher income they earn and the resulting higher taxes they pay. Perhaps most importantly, as has been recognized for elementary and secondary education, the benefits of post-secondary education are societal as much as personal. As a society we all benefit by having doctors, engineers, librarians, nurses, and other educated professionals and personnel. Our costs for health, social services, and social assistance are reduced as our population is better educated. The cultural benefits are enormous. Quebec students know this and are speaking out. We support them. But we also support the demand of many in the post-secondary sector in Quebec for more adequate public funding for universities and colleges. This is a difficult economic time that tests a society’s true values. Regrettably, too many recent federal and provincial governments have valued lower taxes for corporations and the wealthy at the expense of education, health care and social welfare. Canada is a rich country. Quebec’s students are reminding all of us of what our priorities should be. |
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