Vol102Iss16

Page 19

The Education Issue | The McGill Daily | Monday, October 29, 2012

Solutions from the major players

FEUQ

CLASSE CLASSE, the Coalition large de l’Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante, is a staunch supporter of free education. Acknowledging that the educational system requires funding is as far as they go in agreeing with the government; their website states clearly that “free education means that the full cost is contributed by the state.” CLASSE views postsecondary education as a public good, and a basic right – and in that capacity, it should be paid for by the government in the same way that healthcare and primary education are. Citing a decrease in state contribution, from 87 per cent in 1988 to 71 per cent in 2002, CLASSE calls for a “reinvestment in education,” which they view as the responsibility of the government rather than that of individual students. By their calculations, it would take $700 million to ensure free education at all levels in Quebec; they suggest that this money should come from an end to tax cuts for the wealthy. Other researchers have estimated lower numbers. CLASSE also criticizes the way existing funds are allocated in universities, particularly the funding of research in private sector partnerships. Many of the proposed solutions to the underfunding of universities in Quebec are, according to CLASSE, false alternatives. CLASSE believes that neither the postgraduate tax nor the income-contingent repayment plan (both of which would increase a university graduate’s tax rate after their entry into the workforce) is an acceptable alternative to increasing tuition. The reasoning for this is clear – the accessibility of education is not a matter of practicality for CLASSE, but rather, a point of principle, a statement on the place of education in our society.

Before the adoption of a new budget last year, the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec (FEUQ), sent a list of recommendations to the Liberal government for alternative ways of financing the university system. The federation proposed the introduction of a fourth tax rate for revenues exceeding $127,000 and for a creation of a tax on luxury goods, similar to the one currently existing in France. It also called for a minimum tax of 1.5 per cent on business revenues and encouraged the provincial government to increase their effort in obtaining money from the federal government to finance university education. Besides the tax increase, the plan called for better management of university finances and for a more accessible education through more generous bursaries and loans.

CREPUQ In 2010, Daniel Zizian, president and director of CREPUQ (Conference des recteurs et des principaux des université du Québec) wrote that Quebec universities require urgent action to restore their rankings in Canada in both education and research. CREPUQ studies, conducted jointly with the Ministry of Education, indicated that Quebec universities had $375 million less at their disposal than Ontario universities in 2002-03; CREPUQ reported an increase in the gap to $620 million by 2007. Zizian called upon “society, students, and the private sector ... to join forces” in order to bridge this gap. CREPUQ believes that the government should decide how the fiscal responsibility is divided, based on criteria such as direct benefits and preexisting contributions. To this end, they encourage policies that seek to return tuition fees to “the equivalent of their real 1968-69 value.” They also suggest the allocation of a portion of this tuition to financial aid, with the hope of maintaining accessibility. In 2012, CREPUQ released a statement highlighting the $1 billion available in student aid to Quebec university students.

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