Latest news with #postsecondaryeducation
CBC
26-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Nunavik school board working to bring post-secondary education to the region
Nunavik's school board, Kativik Ilisarniliriniq (KI), has partnered with Montreal's John Abbott College to bring some post-secondary courses to the region. There's currently a 10-day sewing arts workshop, and recently an Inuit media course. They are worth just a handful of credits, but it's a start for Phebe Bentley, KI's director of post-secondary student services. There is currently no college or university campus located in Nunavik. In contrast, all three territories and Labrador have at least one post-secondary institution. Under the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, KI doesn't have the administrative jurisdiction to provide post-secondary education. "We're hoping at the end to have a full program, but right now we're kind of exploring and seeing what works," Bentley said. Roughly 4 per cent of Nunavimmiut have completed post-secondary education, according to KI, and most opportunities for training for Nunavimmiut right now are offered through employers. "If you change employers, then you may or may not be able to continue … so post-secondary education in Nunavik is not accessible to youth or to the general public," Bentley said. Salluit's Andrew Papigatuk, who now lives in Montreal, was one of the students in the Inuit media course held earlier this month in Inukjuak. "It opened my mind to limitless opportunities … I'm hoping in the near future, more people will be seeing more of my stuff," he said. Even while in high school, Papigatuk knew he wanted to work in video production. He moved to Montreal several years ago to be a video editor, where he was able to gain skills on the job. "I think it would be great if more opportunities to train other people were offered, which is why I'm completely supporting courses like this," he said. Students heading south for further education A 2022 report from an independent task force on Northern post-secondary education detailed a series of barriers for Nunavimmiut who want to pursue post-secondary education — with relocation being the most significant one. "It's a whole different environment for them. They don't have family around anymore. They're not in their own environment … that community feeling is not as strong down here than it is up north," Andrew Papigatuk said. In 2019, the federal government approved a 10-year budget to support the Inuit post-secondary education strategy. Some of that funding went towards sponsoring students from their communities through distance learning. But the federally commissioned task force found that online learning didn't work well in Nunavik, with many students dealing with poor internet connectivity and a lack of study space due to overcrowded homes. "It is a basic issue of regional inequity that undermines any further exploration of distance education," the report reads. "Until there is reliable, fast, affordable and accessible internet throughout Nunavik, distance education will continue to be functionally inaccessible to Nunavik students." Post-secondary institution in Nunavik a longer-term goal A 2023 study, commissioned by Quebec's Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEQ), identified two models of post-secondary institutions in Nunavik — which would consist of a main campus, plus satellite campuses and learning centres for other communities. KI also conducted community consultations, with the report now being finalized. A key theme so far, says Phebe Bentley, is the need for a post-secondary education model that's culturally relevant to Nunavik — and not just a "cut-and-paste" of models in other parts of Quebec. "I think overwhelmingly people want an education system that is rooted in Inuit culture and language, but they also want it to be paired with a degree or a diploma where they can work in today's society," she said. The task force report found a lack of Inuktitut teachers to be a growing concern, and that worries Bentley too, though she believes new funding from the provincial government for a teaching certificate can help. "If we really want to decolonize and we want our language to continue to thrive, especially in this digital age where there's a threat to indigenous languages … I think just to show them the importance [of that] and helping them and supporting them … that's all that we can do." For now, the goal for Bentley is to get KI jurisdiction under their modern treaty to open up a full-time post-secondary program in Nunavik within the next decade, as she believes already there's existing infrastructure in the region for that. A full post-secondary institution, however, is a longer-term goal, but she is optimistic. "That involves a lot more funding … but we already have some options in place."
CTV News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
‘It feels very disrespectful': AUPE VP says Alberta divesting from post-secondary education
Bobby-Joe Borodey, a vice-president with the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, talks about 18 programs being reviewed and potentially cut at NAIT. Bobby-Joe Borodey, a vice-president with the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, talks about 18 programs being reviewed and potentially cut at NAIT, union members voting in favour of a strike and the government securing a lockout licence. Bobby-Joe Borodey, AUPE VP, discusses post-secondary education funding and contract negotiations with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. Michael Higgins: Let's touch first on that point about the NAIT situation. There 18 programs potentially on the chopping block. What do you take from the dialogue around the decision making process there? Bobby-Joe Borodey: Unfortunately, it comes as no surprise when the government announces that there will be zero increases to base grant funding, institutions first look to cut programs and people. So again, it's unfortunate, but doesn't come as a surprise. MH: Enrollment being down, rising costs, even the impact of tariffs — How do you weigh that against the level of funding that's coming from the province? BJB: We have to recognize that the decrease in enrollment is primarily due to the limitations placed around institutions being able to accept international students. Ten, 12 years ago, institutions were told to prepare for a decrease in the demographic in post-secondary education and to prepare to take on international students, and so many institutions pivoted to do that, only to now be limited in the number that they can enroll. That's why we're seeing the results that we're seeing here today. MH: What's the impact of that at the ground level? BJB: If you are cutting programs, it would likely stand to reason then that there is less work, and so we will see a direct impact to job security with respect to the workers in those post-secondary institutions. Essentially, we see a province that's divesting in the post-secondary education system in this province. MH: We're talking about NAIT. AUPE members are employed at a number of post-secondary institutions across the province outside of NAIT. What are your observations? What's happening at other schools? BJB: It's a similar pattern, or a common thread, for sure. All of our institutions we represent, 16 in the province, are engaged in collective bargaining right now, and while they are all different employees, they are experiencing pretty much the same. They are being told that positions are likely to be cut, and in some institutions, we've already seen those cuts to positions. Programs will be decreased, and essentially with respect to bargaining, we're seeing very low in wage increase proposals from each of those employers. MH: How significant are the employee cuts? BJB: They are very significant. Specifically, Red Deer Polytechnic just recently laid off 33 members within their institution, 17 of which were AUPE members, and so those are big cuts. MH: Okay, so members are in the bargaining process where post-secondary is concerned. What does that bargaining look like? Where does it stand? BJB: For the most part, it's at a standstill. For those who have been engaged a little bit longer in the process, we are seeing positive results on non-monetary asks. However, immediately once we move to monetary decisions and bargaining, we're either seeing a stall or incredibly low offers with no appetite to move off of those offers. MH: What does that say to you? BJB: It tells me that policy wise, they're looking to save money on the backs of their workers. Initially, it feels very disrespectful, and it really just impedes the ability to negotiate fairly for fair collective wages. MH: What does that say to you about the future of post-secondary education then in our province? BJB: It may be an overstatement, but I do believe it is decimation to what used to be a very robust system. Students will leave the province, and we know that if they leave the province to pursue education elsewhere, the likelihood of them coming back to Alberta is slim. Obviously, that has economic ripples in every facet of our economy. MH: We have a growing population, it was just this week we learned that Alberta touched that 5 million mark. Would it not go the other direction? BJB: Not likely, especially on the heels of these program cuts because if students are not able to access the programs that they want to pursue for their future careers, they have no choice but to go elsewhere. Or they're faced with a situation whereby they have to travel great distances within their own province just to access those programs, and it's very likely that they'll be concerned about whether or not the program will be there for them to complete. If it's a diploma or a degree, for example, if it's suspended in the middle of that programming, they're typically left trying to trying to find an alternative solution to achieve their degree or their diploma. MH: Your union drawing lots of attention in the past number of days after members directly employed by the province voted 90 per cent in favour of strike action. You've been at the bargaining table with the government in that regard for more than a year. Why no mediated settlement? What's holding that up? BJB: The parties are just too far apart at this particular point in time. So again, we were able to come to consensus on non-monetary issues, but we went in with an ask that we felt was fair, they came in with a very low offer and there was very little wiggle room. So at this particular time, the two groups were just too far apart to even really get value from a mediator. MH: Yet, I understand you had 80 per cent turnout for that vote to reach that 90 per cent figure of voting for strike action. What does that say, then, about the willingness of AUPE members to actually walk off the job? BJB: Well, it sends a very clear message, and it says that accepting nothing or little for so long is no longer an option, and that our members truly can't afford not to go on strike if their employer is not prepared to offer them wages that will allow them to live, feed their families and not have to pick up second jobs just to make ends meet. MH: How worrisome is it the government has secured a lockout license as a potential response? BJB: Not too worrisome. We recognize that it is typically a tactic in a situation such as this. We're hopeful that we can come to an agreement, especially after the mandate results. The fact that we have the strong strike mandate behind us will hopefully be one of the levers we can pull to get negotiations going again. But as far as the lockout, we're not overly concerned at this particular time.
