Plesant surpsises for CBU students and university

Both students and Cape Breton University received some long overdue good news last week. The provincial budget proposed a new "grant" program for students and the province's education minister, Karen Casey, announced that CBU could go ahead with its plans to offer their own Bachelor of Education program in 2009.

In an attempt to live up to a previous promise, the Conservative government is freezing tuition for the next three years and offering a new "grant" program. Under the proposed program, students that apply for debt relief would have the first 20 per cent of their loan, up to a maximum of $1,560 annually, turned into a non-repayable grant.

Student groups – ANSSA and the CFS – have applauded the move calling it a, "Big win for students." ANSSA executive director, Paris Meilleur said she was pleased that the province was heading in the right direction; however, it is only "one of the puzzle pieces."

I could not agree more. For a student to qualify for the maximum rebate of $1,560 a person would have to be awarded an overall amount of $7,800. When we subtract the non-repayable portion of the award we are left with approximately $6,200 per year in debt. Over four years, the normal length of time for an undergraduate degree, the person the most in need (based on student assistance calculations) would have to repay close to $25,000. The students who need assistance the most will still be buried in debt for years.

Introducing a small non-repayable grant for students is a step in the right direction, but it is barely a baby step.

Also, CBU has received permission from the education minister to begin their BEd program, pending the approval of from the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission. Fortunately for CBU, Minister Casey decided not to accept the recommendations put forward by her education review panel. Without a doubt, the move was the result of terrific pressure and outrage that manifested in Cape Breton in the aftermath of the report's release.

Dr. John Harker, President, Cape Breton University, acknowledged the role played by the community and said that, "The voices of our university, of our community were loud and clear and today we are moving forward in this exciting, new chapter of education and towards the great future of Cape Breton University."

The additional 40 seats will generate some much needed revenue for the university that recently has had to come to terms with some unpleasant realities it will face in the near future.

Both stories – increased student aid and CBU's BEd program – are the result of what happens when the public mobilizes behind an issue. Students have been working hard to bring attention to the horrible situation of students brought on by years of poor provincial fiscal policy. The pubic also made its feelings about the review panel's recommendations blatantly clear. We can't mistake the government's decisions as examples of political altruism. Instead, they were example of political necessity.

The decisions were necessary because without the proposed "grant" program and without the Bed "approval" the government would have lost a tremendous amount of face and suffered for it the next time Nova Scotians went to the polls.

The "grant" proposal is a good idea, but it is not enough and is an attempt to remove the student debt monkey from the governments back. However, as I showed, the student debt issue is not solved; students will still owe tens of thousands of dollars unless more is done.

The province is starting to move in the right direction, but they are moving at a tortoise's pace when they should be responding with a greater sense of urgency.