Dennis Paull:
>I agree that management normally wins. But my concern is for those,
>who for whatever reason, do not want to be, or are unable to be,
>'knowledge' workers.
Our Minister of Finance gave his budget speech a few days ago. Included in
that speech was a Canada Millennium Scholarships Fund which, according to
the official literature, begins in the year 2000 and will award scholarships
to more than 100,000 full- and part-time students each year over 10 years
through an initial endowment of $2.5 billion. Scholarships will average
$3,000 a year to a maximum of $15,000 for four years of study. Canadians of
all ages, studying full time or part time in publicly funded universities,
community colleges, vocational and technical institutes, and CEGEPs will be
eligible. The fund will be administered by the Canada Millennium
Scholarship Foundation will be created as an arm's-length body to manage the
endowment and to award scholarships. Once established, the Foundation will
consult closely with provincial governments and the post-secondary education
community. The goal will be: to award scholarships by the Foundation to
individuals in a manner that avoids duplication in any province; to build on
existing provincial needs assessment processes; to complement existing
provincial programs; and, most importantly, to significantly increase access
to post-secondary education everywhere in Canada for low- and middle-income
students.
It is difficult to find fault with a program like this; I know from the
experience of my own children that the debts students incur through four
years of university and post-grad work are extremely burdensome.
Nevertheless, I do have some concerns about it. Shortly after the fund was
announced, commentators from our Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade
said things like - 'oh, good, now we can ensure that kids are trained to
fill the needs of our emerging knowledge based economy.' They were given
considerable encouragement in thinking this way by the appointment of the
CEO of Chrysler Canada as Chair of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation.
What we have witnessed in Canada during the past couple of decades is not
only a reduction in our capacity to undertake research, but a growing
departure from basic or curiosity-driven research. Research now mostly
means applied research. We have also witnessed an increasing convergence of
the interests of our universities with the concerns of business. More and
more, academic work now means taking courses that enables the individual to
compete in "our knowledge-based economy." I may be wrong, but see the
Millennium Scholarships Fund as a further step in that general direction.
When the CEO of Chrysler Canada and his board establish the criteria for
handing out the scholarships, will students who are interested in
philosophy, medieval history or theoretical physics get equal treatment to
students who are learning to develop business software or studying the
techniques of international marketing? Even if they do get equal treatment,
will our universities, which are now painfully aware of which way the
economic winds blow, be in a position to give them an education of equal
quality? We will have to wait and see, but I for one am skeptical.
Ed Weick
