Ontario govt. announce free post-secondary tuition for families making under $50k

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

This is precisely my view. I don't understand the public policy underlying this. It seems like just rank idealism with no practical rationale.

It's not policy, it's just the market being slowly flooded with kids with degrees, if your an employer you have a choice so you tend to pick the better qualified kid whether you really need it or not. After a while that just becomes the requirement.
I'm in my mid fifties, when I left school grade ten was all you needed for most blue collar gigs, (O levels in the UK). As more and more kids went on to get their grade twelve that became the basic requirement, now that so many B.A's are knocking around that is gradually becoming the standard.

The actual requirement for the jobs hasnt changed, can you read and write, do basic math and turn up at 8am moderately presentable. The rest you learn on the job just the same as you did fifty years ago.

[Johnny199r]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Around 5 years ago Saskatchewan had a student loan relief program in place. My brother was graduating from the UofS and they offered to wipe out his student loan over 5 years if he stayed in the province to work. I think they offered 10% the first year, 20% the next two and 25% the final two years.

My brother didn't stick around for the program and came back to Alberta.

Manitoba had/still has? a program for new grads of certain fields where you get income tax breaks for 4/5 years. I got like 5k off my taxes every year for 4 years.

I thought that was a good way to do it for the Province.

[Johnny199r]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

It's not policy, it's just the market being slowly flooded with kids with degrees, if your an employer you have a choice so you tend to pick the better qualified kid whether you really need it or not. After a while that just becomes the requirement.
I'm in my mid fifties, when I left school grade ten was all you needed for most blue collar gigs, (O levels in the UK). As more and more kids went on to get their grade twelve that became the basic requirement, now that so many B.A's are knocking around that is gradually becoming the standard.

The actual requirement for the jobs hasnt changed, can you read and write, do basic math and turn up at 8am moderately presentable. The rest you learn on the job just the same as you did fifty years ago.

Not just a B.A, look at business degrees. A B.Comm isn't that useful anymore, now companies want accounting designations/MBA on top of business degrees.

My father had a great accounting job in government with only a business degree. When he retired the mid 2000s, candidates had to have an ass load of designations in addition to a degree, not to mention years of relevant experience.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Johnny199r

Not just a B.A, look at business degrees. A B.Comm isn't that useful anymore, now companies want accounting designations/MBA on top of business degrees.

My father had a great accounting job in government with only a business degree. When he retired the mid 2000s, candidates had to have an ass load of designations in addition to a degree, not to mention years of relevant experience.

As you increase the number of people taking the degrees you have to dumb the the exams down to give the students who aren't that bright but have paid their thirty of fourty thousand a fighting chance of passing.
As the degrees get easier specialist occupations that do need specific knowledge have to increase their entry requirements.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Slava

You realise that the skilled workers we were luring away from elsewhere aren't just tradespeople though, right? When things were really booming here we were bringing in engineers of all types (mechanical, chemical, electrical, etc.), not mention all kinds of finance and other professionals. I think that trades are critically important, but the phrase "skilled workers" cuts a wide swath.

Firstly, you're talking about a short term boom. In that case it makes sense to bring in temporary labor. I can guarantee you right now we don't have a shortage of engineers though.

Secondly if we are short certain professionals a centrally controlled education system can deal with that too. Either way allowing unlimited amounts of people to take whatever they want on the taxpayers bill is absurd.

[Slava]

Sure, but that isn't what is happening. This is about low income people and how the education is paid for. They still have to qualify for already existing positions in the programs, and it's not a wide open policy. If anything it means that the requirements and standards will increase because there are more applications for the same number of spaces.

[Jason14h]

"We are lending money we don't have to kids who can't pay it back to train them for jobs that no longer exist"

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Slava

Sure, but that isn't what is happening. This is about low income people and how the education is paid for. They still have to qualify for already existing positions in the programs, and it's not a wide open policy. If anything it means that the requirements and standards will increase because there are more applications for the same number of spaces.

Education is a service industry, within a year or so they will increase the number of spaces and dumb down the courses to take advantage of the larger number of customers knocking on the door with their mediocre high school results and government cheques in hand.