Canadian Education News

Canadian Christians are behind in education
According to The Catholic Register, the Canadian Christian population “is less educated than Canadian Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and even those who have no religious affiliation.” This is based on reportage from the Pew Research Center.

The Pew Research Center, based in the United States, conducted a global study of the education level among various religious groups. Based on the analysis, Canadian Christians average 12.7 years of and Canadian Jews average 14.3.

David Seljak, St. Jerome’s and Waterloo University sociologist of religion, reports that age and immigration suffice to explain the differences. “Immigrants tend to be better educated than the Canadian average since the point system filters out the under-educated,” Seljak said.

Canada makes call to international students
The New York Times says that Canada is making an open call to international students with a path to citizenship. One young Chinese woman, Fei Jie, at the College of the North Atlantic said, “The environment here is really good, so I think for my health I will stay,” said Fei Jie, from China’s eastern Shandong Province.

There are tens and hundreds of thousand of international students within Canada that remain a crucial element in the governmental plans to change the landscape of Canadian demographics “by funneling well-educated, skilled workers through the university system.”

That is, it is a conscious federal strategy to incorporate international, highly educated, and skilled workers. It is necessary, too. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada reports that immigrants comprise 75% of the annual net growth for Canada. It could account for 100% in a decade.

A university graduate program would enhance Canadian competitiveness
University Affairs reported that Brenda Brouwer, President of the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies, said, “In Canada, labour outcomes for earned doctorates have remained steady over the past 15 years.”

Canada is behind other Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries in the keeping pace with the need for the development of the PhD population. That’s an issue in the modern knowledge economy.

One inhibitory mechanism in the ability of students to be able to train is the higher cost of education. Student debt is high and it is difficult for students to pay back their debt and to pay the credit interest rates. It has been suggested that this could be alleviated if postgraduate student debt was restructured under the same type of terms as mortgage debt.

“If that same individual was in the workforce and applied for a mortgage to buy a house,” University Affairs said, “she or he would have up to 25 years to repay the debt and would be charged current mortgage rates.”

Scott Douglas Jacobsen is an AUSU Councillor. He works with various organizations, and runs In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, and In-Sight Publishing.