Camosun gets up to $700k for student employment
Camosun College received confirmation last week of up to $700,000 in Employment Skills Access funding for training unemployed and under-employed students. The funding is part of a BC Ministry of Jobs, Tourism, and Innovation initiative intended to strengthen job-specific skills in challenging economic times.
Premier asked to intervene in Missing Women’s Commission
A letter has been sent to BC Premier Christy Clark asking for an intervention in the Missing Women’s Commission, describing the inquiry as being in “serious jeopardy.”
Sent on behalf of 20 of the 21 non-governmental parties granted standing in the Missing Women Inquiry, along with the families of 17 of the missing and murdered women (some of whom were included in our September 7 feature story), the letter states numerous concerns with the fundamental execution of the inquiry, including matters of proper legal representation for the groups who have been granted standing in the inquiry. The hearings are scheduled to commence on October 11, 2011.
UVic student society not fans of increasing international enrollment
UVic Students’ Society chairperson Tara Paterson says that BC Premier Christy Clark’s recent announcement that the province intends to increase enrollment from international students by 50 percent over the next four years is shortsighted. “Attracting more international students to BC is a shortsighted solution which uses exorbitant tuition revenues from international students to prop up a chronically under-funded postsecondary system,” says Paterson. “If the BC government is truly serious about job growth, it should instead be looking at goals such as eliminating interest on student loans and reinstating the provincial needs-based grants program for students.”
Report shows need for more government support in Canada
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently reported that individual Canadians receive less benefit from postsecondary education than the OECD average. The annual report, titled Education at a Glance, found that the average male university graduate in Canada can expect a lifetime net premium of $80,000 USD over a high school graduate—a full $10,000 USD less than the OECD average. The estimate is even lower for women, stating that for female university graduates in Canada the figure is only $46,000 USD over high school graduates. This net wage premium is determined by subtracting the costs of postsecondary education from the average lifetime financial benefits. “Universities have been grossly exaggerating the earnings of university grads as an excuse to raise tuition fees,” says Zach Crispin, chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students-BC. “Their national organization regularly claims the average student earns over a million dollars more in a lifetime. I trust this new data will keep them honest.”
Oak Bay resident leaves $2.5 million estate to SPCA
When Oak Bay resident Gladys Cavanagh passed away last fall she willed her entire estate to the Victoria SPCA, worth approximately $2.5 million, with the intent that it be used for capital projects. Cavanagh had inherited the estate unexpectedly from a friend who passed away in the 1970s.