Funding Crisis on Campuses Across BC
Feb 20, 2017, 03:01 ET
Langara Faculty Launch Transit Ad Campaign
VANCOUVER, Feb. 20, 2017 /CNW/ - Today the Langara Faculty Association (LFA) launches a transit ad campaign aimed at alerting the voting public to the crisis in under-funding of colleges and universities across British Columbia.
The problem: under-funding
In the last 15 years, provincial funding per student has dropped by 20% at Langara College (and similar amounts at institutions across the province). Without a change in direction, where will this trend end?
The financial stress on students is so great that Langara College is starting a food bank on campus.
The BC government tells us that 78% of all new jobs will require a College or University education. So why cannot students, the engine of BC's future economy, be allowed to focus on their studies?
Consequences of reduced funding: Invisible to the public, obvious in the classroom
Lynn Carter, LFA President, says, "Faculty members are worried about their students. Our students are exhausted and stressed. They are in debt. They are forced to spend too much time working and as a result have too little time to study."
Jessie Smith, Langara faculty member, laments the lack of funding saying that "Perhaps most distressing is the lost potential in our students. Students who would otherwise do well are not able to because they have to work when they should be studying. Students are simply not learning as much as they could if we gave them more support."
The solution: restore funding
Langara faculty want funding to be restored to public colleges and universities so students pay for their education over a lifetime (via taxes), not when they are making low wages and trying to study at the same time.
Transit Ad campaign: seeks to raise awareness and inspire the public to vote
From February 20 to April 9, the LFA is running three different versions of ads in 87 locations on buses and in skytrain stations across Vancouver.
Carter explains that the goals of the campaign are "to pressure political parties to 'put our money where our minds are' (increase the grant to colleges and universities), and inspire voters to think of our students, and B.C.'s future, when they vote on May 9."
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About: The Langara Faculty Association's transit ad campaign is part of the Federation of Post Secondary Educators' broader Open The Doors Campaign:
openthedoors.ca
#openthedoorsbc
SOURCE Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC
For further information: Media contact: Lynn Carter, Langara Faculty Association President, 604-323-5895
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