Vancouver: Campus 2020 - Thinking Ahead.
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A modified cap on tuition fees, free basic education for adults and a full review of student financial assistance are among 52 recommendations in a report released today on the future of post-secondary education in B.C.
The report was prepared by former attorney-general Geoff Plant after five months of province-wide consultations, called Campus 2020: Thinking Ahead.
It also calls on the province to commit the funds necessary to attain the key objective of making B.C. the most literate and best-educated jurisdiction in North America.
Plant proposes two provincial structures to lead the way: a Higher Education Presidents’ Council to coordinate planning among all post-secondary institutions in the province, and a public interest Higher Education Board to measure the progress of the sector.
He also calls for new regional learning councils to bring K-12 and post-secondary education together.
“The purpose of these new structures is not to erode institutional autonomy but to harness it,” Plante says in the report. “The learning landscape of the future will be increasingly learner-driven and outcome-focused. My report asks how far we can push technology in the service of learners, including taking a more comprehensive approach to recognizing and recording a wider range of student learning experiences, creating a new Pacific Centre of Excellence in Learning Innovation and developing a BC Learning Gateway.
‘Tens of millions’ needed for higher education in B.C.
The B.C. government should spend much more money to make the province’s post-secondary education system the best in Canada, says a new report.
The report, prepared for the government by former attorney general Geoff Plant, makes 51 recommendations to improve the system, including better access.
Plant said B.C. should aim to have the highest level of participation in post-secondary education, it must grant more degrees and it must have the highest student achievement.
The former minister, who did not run for re-election in 2005, said the government has to back up that commitment with a substantial amount of money.
“And it will certainly be in the millions or tens of millions of dollars a year. But gosh, I sure think it’s a fight worth having at the cabinet table, because this is the investment you have to make to build the strong economy and the strong society we want for ourselves in British Columbia over the next generation.”
His report also calls on the government to clarify the role and mandate of its institutions.
CBC News
