This evening, I went to pick up my sister as usual; however, I got stuck in a street. Couldn't turn, couldn't back up, couldn't go forward. The cause? A student manifestation about the increase in school fees... I was a student a few years back, so I should feel sympathetic to the cause... instead, it just angers me sooo much! Let me give you some background... in the 60's, Quebec's government has frozen the school fees so they would not increase over the years... and so, they haven't for nearly 4 decades. On an average, a semester at any university in Quebec, for a Quebec resident, is 1,300$ CDN. This is the cheapest in Canada... hell, it's probably the cheapest in America!! What they plan is to increase the fees by 50$/semester for 5 years. Okay, at the end, it's going to be a total of 500$ and that'll be a bit under 2,000$/semester... and that's a lot for some ppl... I do understand that... but do you know what the students were manifesting about?!? What they wanted?
FREE SCHOOLING!!!
Okay, so now I'm going to contradict myself with some stuff I said in the past. In the past, I said that I felt that in America, we were buying our degrees. That because we were paying for our schooling, at the end, all you needed to do was pass your classes and you'd get your diploma. My complaint is that because we have to pay, I think that the quality of the education offered here is not as high as the countries with free schooling. Also, there is less competition in America... it should be considered as an advantage; however, because we know that we'll have our diploma at the end, we don't push ourselves as much. So that being said, I'm still realist... We are never going to get free schooling anywhere in America, Canada or Quebec. That makes manifesting for this cause useless and seriously, the students that were out there? Naive.
Even with the increase in fees, Quebec's universities will remain one of the most affordable and cheapest in Canada and America. Quit whining. Yes, it's going to cost you more... but the rest of Canada is already paying more NOW. Does that mean that Quebeckers won't be able to pay and make it, while the rest of Canada makes it? Are you saying that Quebeckers are this useless? I read an article earlier this year that said that Quebec and Canadian students were making approximately the same income and paid about the same rent and etc. So it just annoys me all the manifestations and revendications... and all their arguments. I don't think that more ppl will attend universities because of the free schooling. I mean, yes, those who can't afford it now will have a chance, but that doesn't mean universities are going to open their doors wide open. Similarly to Europe, there'll be more competition and you'll have to work real hard to stay in. So no, not more ppl will attend, just more ppl will have the chance...
So anyone has thoughts on this?
Even with the increase in fees, Quebec's universities will remain one of the most affordable and cheapest in Canada and America. Quit whining. Yes, it's going to cost you more... but the rest of Canada is already paying more NOW. Does that mean that Quebeckers won't be able to pay and make it, while the rest of Canada makes it? Are you saying that Quebeckers are this useless? I read an article earlier this year that said that Quebec and Canadian students were making approximately the same income and paid about the same rent and etc. So it just annoys me all the manifestations and revendications... and all their arguments. I don't think that more ppl will attend universities because of the free schooling. I mean, yes, those who can't afford it now will have a chance, but that doesn't mean universities are going to open their doors wide open. Similarly to Europe, there'll be more competition and you'll have to work real hard to stay in. So no, not more ppl will attend, just more ppl will have the chance...
So anyone has thoughts on this?
