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Colleges and Universities Minister Ross Romano says he and the Doug Ford government want to make post-secondary education affordable for the people, but they must eschew empty rhetoric.
They gloat over the measly 10 per cent reduction in tuition fees they granted students back in 2019, which does little to stymie the fiscal bleeding for graduates in a job market that is untrustworthy to say the least.
The banks, universities and governments participate in the greatest financial scheme ever conceived that ensures a steady revenue stream split between the three powerful agencies at the expense of heavily burdened graduates shouldered with debts many will not be able to pay. What is the point of seeking post-secondary education when graduates end up as bankrupt debtors forced to rely on a trustee to free them from that debt in bankruptcy court seven years after their classes ended?
Doug Ford’s freezing tuition for students fails to address the multi-generational problem of greedy universities exploiting students for every dollar and doing nothing to ensure the students find meaningful employment.
So it is hard to take the words of the Council of Ontario Universities seriously when they say they wish to take more government funding so as not to compromise the quality of students’ education.
What universities should have done is ensure more students are able to earn a scholarship that cuts their tuition by a few thousand dollars and establish a career training program to help them establish themselves as quickly as possible following graduation.
The worthier solution is making post-secondary education free for domestic students. If we can fund grand infrastructure projects, we can give our students a break by freeing them from the burden of educational debt. They should not have to suffer this indignity because of a few greedy universities.
Christopher Mansour
Barrie
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