Elite Korean Schools, Forging Ivy League Skills April 27, 2008
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The race is not always to the richest Dec 6th 2007The robust Canadian economy and stock market have been sustained by two main strengths: the resource industry and financial services.
But there's something wrong with this picture.
The dominance of banks, oils and commodities covers up an uncomfortable truth.
Despite Canada's size as one of the world's largest economies, it is remarkably short of success stories in software, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, life sciences and other knowledge industries.
The absence of world-leading companies in these areas is largely the result of a policy failure, argues McGill University business professor Guy Stanley.
There's no coherent national system that promotes innovation, as is often found in successful Asian or Scandinavian economies, he writes in a paper published in the current issue of Policy Options magazine.
Of the top 50 Canadian firms by revenue, almost all are either in resource-related industries, retail or protected service sectors.
Stanley, who teaches global competitiveness at McGill's Desautels School of Management, notes that of the 13 Canadian firms in the Fortune Global 500, only three are technology companies: Magna, Bombardier and Nortel.
"This contrasts starkly with most other G7 countries, whose big industries have a heavier (science and technology) presence."
Over the last 15 years, "Canada's ability to produce high-value-added, knowledge-based products has actually deteriorated relative to that of other countries," writes Stanley.
The country now ranks 16th in business competitiveness, as measured by the World Economic Forum.
And while our education system rates highly, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, that hasn't translated into proportional spending on science and technology or commercialization of new knowledge.
So far, we haven't really felt the impact of this shortfall because we've been cushioned by a surge in commodity prices and by our privileged trade relationship with the United States.
But the downside is that Canada's source of net trading value largely comes from supplying materials for products designed and patented elsewhere, notes Stanley.
"Long after the demise of colonial empires, Canada continues to run a substantially colonial economy."
That will catch up with us in the longer term, he warns. Lack of innovation is bound to exact a cost to the country's living standards.
The problem is not just that resources are nonrenewable, it's that they're in demand only because others are using them to make products of higher value.
To be sure, this is nothing really new for a country long labelled as a hewer of wood and a drawer of water.
In the past, Canada sought to compensate for its weak industrial sector with protectionist trade policies that slapped tariffs on incoming products.
But today, in a world that tilts toward freer trade, that's no longer a viable strategy.
What's needed is a national innovation system that knits together a country's education system, its science and technology capability, government policy and economic demand.
Perhaps the most outstanding example of this is the United States, where there's a strong link between higher education and the development of innovative new products.
Regulatory policy plays a role, too. In Canada, key sectors like financial services, telecommunications, aerospace, aviation and energy remain laden with protectionist rules.
And government bureaucrats push single solutions (more money for R&D, or more support for small business or more help for exporters) rather than the coherent functioning of a national system where supply and demand for innovation are linked.
Canada's innovative firms often operate in U.S. dollars, serve U.S.-based customers, seek venture financing in the U.S., protect their intellectual property with a U.S. patent and even get research funding from U.S. agencies, says Stanley.
From this perspective, Canada is a mere add-on to the U.S. economy.
Why isn't innovation a national priority? Because governments regard it as just another expense item rather than crucial national policy.
phadekel@videotron.ca
Creation of a study group on university governance
Dec. 21, 2006 | President Claude Lajeunesse is to be part of a new study group formed to examine the governance of Quebec universities.
The appointment was announced this week by Dr. Yvan Allaire, chairman of the board of directors of the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations.
The mandate of the group is three-fold:
- Assess current practices and challenges for the proper governance of universities in Quebec and elsewhere.
- Assess various principles and practices put in place to improve the quality of university governance in Quebec and around the world.
- Make specific recommendations that are likely to enhance the quality of university governance in Quebec.
Dr. Jean-Marie Toulouse, professor at HEC Montréal and former director of the school (January 1995 to September 2006) will chair the study group.
The Institute expects to receive the group’s recommendations by June 30, 2007.
More
Friday 27 October 2006 UNITED NATIONS: CANADA CRITICIZED OVER YOUTH EDUCATION
A new report by the United Nations says countries around the world, including Canada, need to make early childhood education a higher priority. The annual UN report on education says the majority of countries often ignores the importance of childhood education. The co-director of the Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development, Louise Zimanyi, says Canada's record in childhood education is particularly poor given the vast resources available throughout the country. She says Canada lacks a cohesive early childhood policy. The report emphasizes that strong early childhood care policies stand to benefit countries in the long run by improving prospects for disadvantaged children and strengthening the quality of the adult population.
Thursday 26 October 2006 REPORT CARD ON QUEBEC'S SECONDARY SCHOOLS, 2006 EDITION
The Montreal Economic Institute and the Fraser Institute today released the Report Card on Quebec’s Secondary Schools: 2006 Edition, the only publicly available, independent measurement of Quebec’s public and private, French and English, secondary schools. Plus, a new interactive, web-based report card lets parents, teachers, and school and district administrators review a school's academic performance based on overall school ratings or detailed, course-by-course exam results. Visit MEI's Website to know more.
Tuesday 10 October 2006 TORONTO: THREE CANADIAN UNIVERSITIES RANK AMONG TOP 50 IN THE WORLD
Three Canadian universities have been judged among the top 50 universities in the world, according to an annual list compiled by the Times of London newspaper. McGill University in Montreal was ranked twenty-first, three spots higher than last year. The University of Toronto was twenty-seventh, two spots higher. The University of British Columbia fell 12 spots to finish in a tie for fiftieth. The top-ranked university was Harvard, the same ranking it reached last year. Cambridge was second, and Oxford was third. The rankings are based on a survey of 3,700 academics around the world who are asked to list the best universities for research in their field.
Monday Oct 9, 2006 McGill's No. 1
McGill is the top ranked Canadian university and 21st overall in the world according to a new global survey compiled by the Times of London newspaper.
KATE LUNAU, The Gazette
Monday, October 09, 2006McGill is the top ranked Canadian university and 21st overall in the world according to a new global survey compiled by the Times of London newspaper.
McGill was the only Canadian school to crack the Top 25.
Two other Canadian universities, the University of Toronto (27th) and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, (50th) made the Top 50, in the 2006 Times higher education supplement's world university rankings.
Harvard University in Boston maintained its first-place ranking from last year, followed by British universities Cambridge and Oxford.
McGill ranked 12th in North America, defeating such prestigious U.S. schools as Johns Hopkins University, New York University and the University of California, Los Angeles.
"McGill's breadth and international reach make it the most visible of Canada's institutions," the Times rankings report said.
"We take pride in the special international reputation and position of McGill as an entirely fitting tribute to our remarkable faculty, staff and students," said McGill principal and vice-chancellor Heather Munroe-Blum in a statement.
Since the Times launched its higher education supplement's world university rankings in 2004, McGill has been the only Canadian school to crack the Top 25. It ranked 24th last year.
The paper ranks some 200 universities world-wide based on a series of factors, including staff to student ratio, teaching and research quality, and peer review by academics around the world.
Other Canadian schools to make the top 200 were the University of Alberta (133) in Edmonton, McMaster University (155) in Hamilton, Queen's University (176) in Kingston, Ont., and l'Universite de Montreal (181).
McGill was also named Canada's top medical school, in a tie with the University of Toronto, in last year's annual ranking of Canadian universities by Maclean's magazine.
To view the full higher education supplement's world university rankings, go online to www.topuniversities.com
klunau@thegazette.canwest.com
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2006Sep 5, 2006 truthdig PAUL CUMMINS ON EDUCATION
"Paul Cummins: Fighting the Wrong Battles in Education Reform" -- The founder of The New Vision Foundation, and primary founder of the trailblazing Crossroads School and New Roads School in Santa Monica, argues that if we can't fund cuts in class sizes and improve educational resources, nothing else we do will matter a whit.Sunday 03 September 2006 LONDON: UNIVERSITIES REBEL AGAINST MAGAZINE POLL
The University of Western Ontario is the latest school to refuse to cooperate in compiling Macleans magazine's annual rankings of Canadian post-secondary schools. The issue with this year's rankings is due out in November, but 22 universities have so far refused to answer the magazine's questions. The universities object to the questionnaire's methodology, saying that it leads to flawed conclusions. In last year's list, the University of Western Ontario ranked third among universities that have medical faculties. Macleans insists that the rankings provide useful information to students trying to decide which university to attend.
Who Needs Harvard?
Sunday, Aug. 13, 2006 Competition for the Ivies is as fierce as ever, but kids who look beyond the famous schools may be the smartest applicants of allIt's the summer before your senior year, and you're sweating. The college brochures are spread across the table, along with itineraries, SAT review books, downloaded copies of Web pages that let you chart the grades and scores of every kid from your high school who applied to a given college in the past five years and whether they got in or not. You're hunting for a school where the principal oboe player is graduating, or the soccer goalie, so it might be in the market for someone with your particular skills. You can be fifth-generation Princeton or the first in your family to apply to college: it's still the most important decision you've ever made, and the most confounding.
Video 56 min 40 Jun 29, 2006 movie Charlie Rose with An hour with Larry Summers He steps down from that position on June 30th. He discusses his time at...
Monday Jun 5, 2006 gaz Teachers get no respect
Quebec undervalues its teachers and our education system shows it HENRY AUBIN
Education Life: Students as Nomads
Today's students attend two colleges, three colleges, even four. Also: The country's few remaining men's colleges find themselves newly relevant.Thursday Mar 23, 2006 rci Talks to end a strike by 9,000 college teachers in Ontario have broken down after three days. The Ontario Public Service Employees says the talks with the body representing 24 colleges produced no progress. The union has called for binding arbitration to end the conflict, saying that negotiation with the current management negotiators is fruitless. The walkout began on March 7, depriving 150,000 students of their classes. One of the union's demands is that the colleges hire 10 per cent more full-time teachers each year for three years to reduce average class size from 29 to 25.
Tuesday Feb 28, 2006 nyt Did an Exposé Help Sink Harvard's President? An article on Harvard's effort to help Russia privatize its economy in the 1990's may have played a part in forcing the ouster of Lawrence Summers. 9 pages talking about Lawrence Summers
Sunday Feb 26, 2006 nyt How the Liberal Arts Got That Way By MATTHEW PEARL
Lawrence Summers's fall as president of Harvard started 140 years ago.Sunday Feb 26, 2006 nyt Proof of Learning at College Colleges and universities should join in the hunt for acceptable ways to measure student progress.
Tuesday Jan 24, 2006 nyt 'Rising Above the Gathering Storm'
It will be impossible to improve math and science education until we assess teachers' preparedness based on the same high standards in all parts of the country. 50 W-Ns Teaching was a subject2005
Monday, Nov. 21, 2005 time Looking Abroad For A Few Good Teachers
Foreign educators are filling a need in one city's classrooms--and getting a crash course in cultural diversitySaturday Nov 26, 2005 nyt Students Ace State Tests, but Earn D's From U.S.
By SAM DILLON
Discrepancies in state and federal math test results have intensified the national debate over testing and accountability.Wednesday Nov 23, 2005 nyt Why the United States Should Look to Japan for Better Schools
By BRENT STAPLES
The Japanese system of education has features that could be fruitfully imitated in the United StatesWednesday Nov 9, 2005 nyt
Special Section: Higher Education
In this issue of Education Life: colleges are trying to reclaim Friday as a day of learning; lacrosse as an admissions strategy. Plus new columns on campus news, college finances and more.
Sunday, November 6, 2005 globe Maclean's ranks the universities
Toronto — Maclean's magazine released its annual ranking of Canadian universities Sunday and for the first time in 10 years, the University of Toronto has lost the distinction of being called the top medical school in Canada. Now it shares the honour for top marks with McGill UniversityFriday Oct 28, 2005 mei Report Card on Quebec's Secondary Schools, 2005 Edition
Monday Oct 17, 2005 nyt At Public Universities, Warnings of Privatization
By SAM DILLON
Money for public universities has plunged more precipitously since 2001 than at any time in two decades.
As Young Adults Drink tOWN Marketers Join In
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
College administrators say a whole new industry built around drinking games is a thin cover for binge drinkingWednesday Oct 12, 2005 ts Foreign student numbers grow
Foreign students are attending Canadian universities in record numbers, doubling their enrolment in the last decade, says a report released yesterday.Sunday Oct 2, 2005 gaz wn Self-esteem movement hurting kids
Gives students wrong message. Students are being given a false sense of achievement and confidenceSaturday Oct 1, 2005 mit MIT unveils its design for a $100 laptop>
Aimed at the world's children. Within a year, Negroponte expects to get up to 15 million machines in production more | chartSaturday Oct 1, 2005 nyt That Famous Equation and You
By BRIAN GREENE
E = mc², 100 years old this month, shapes every aspect of our lives.ts EINSTEIN EXPLAINED | A glossary
Special theory of relativity, 1905 "Special" really means restricted. To understand the interactions between objects, Einstein took the simplified route of looking only at objects moving at constant speeds in straight lines. He deliberately ignored accelerated motion, including the effects of gravity.
A celebration of a man and his scientific genius
WATERLOO—Albert Einstein burst figuratively to life here yesterday at the kick-off for an mind-stretching celebration of the science, times, personality and legacy of the world's most recognizable scientist.Thursday Sep 29, 2005 ts Tuition squeezing the middle class
Soaring fees for law school, medicine and dentistry appear to have hit Ontario's middle-class the hardest, a new study suggests — with enrolment in professional programs down 50 per cent among students whose parents have a college diploma or bachelor degree. .Tuesday Sep 27, 2005 .. about the only thing the Universities have abandoned obligation to set moral standards McGill hazing incident. Students need mentoring, guidance and guidelines - more than ever by pof Gil Troy
Sunday Sep 25, 2005 gaz Offsetting tuition hikes
.....The problem is especially acute in Quebec, where tuition is frozen at $1,600 for most students. In some other provinces, Ontario and Nova Scotia for example, tuition fees are triple Quebec's.September 16, 2005 Plain-talking PM Newman's book on Mulroney reveals the former prime minister speaks like any hard-working, conniving, paranoid politician at the end of day by NORMAN WEBSTER
September 16, 2005 HeyMath! is an E-learning system that supports the work of teachers in teaching and assessment, whilst helping students in Grades 5 - 12(Ages 10+) build a strong foundation in Math and become independent learners.
September 16, 2005
HEC Montreal and Concordia launch new joint institute today launched the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations, a new research, reference and training centre dedicated to issues related to governance.
September 16, 2005 nyt Op-Ed Contributor: Just What the Professor Ordered
Why should students pay $150 for one textbook?Thursday Sep 15, 2005 rci MONTREAL: BUSINESS INSTITUTE LAUNCHED
The Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations has been launched in Montreal in a joint project by the business schools of Concordia University and the University of Montreal. The Institute's goal is to teach better, more efficient techniques of business governance. Investment advisor Stephen Jarislowsky has contribute $2 million to its budget. Mr. Jarislowsky has campaigned for year's against incompetence business executives and directors.Friday Sep 9, 2005 ec Secrets of success America's system of higher education is the best in the world. That is because there is no system
Head in the clouds
A world of opportunity
Wandering scholars
Higher Ed Inc
The best is yet to come
Acknowledgments and sources
Offer to readersFriday Sep 9, 2005 ec Management consultants From big business to big government
Friday Sep 9, 2005 ec Universities ... How European v American fails its young
The state of Europe's higher education is a long-term threat to its competitiveness
The brains business Sep 8th 2005
Wednesday Aug 31, 2005 ts F-word all right in U.K. school
Oh %$#@!!A British secondary school is allowing its students to swear at their teachers.Ontario adds $61 million for textbooks
Ontario parents cannot be compelled to pay the hefty fees that some high schools are charging for incidentals such as art supplies, Education Minister Gerard Kennedy says.Thursday Aug 25, 2005 rci TORONTO: RESEARCHERS DISMISS 'SMALLER CLASS' THEORY
Private researchers with the C.D. Howe Institute have published a report that dismisses a link between smaller class size and the success of their students. The report claims that the enormous amounts of money expended to hire more teachers so as to reduce class sizes would be better spent on permanent teacher training. C.D. Howe cites reports in both Canada and the U.S. which it says prove its contention. The researchers also suggest that much of the political pressure for more teachers comes from their labour unions, which want to see more teachers hired. The Canadian Federation of Teachers rejects the findings, saying that C.D. Howe's study doesn't take account of U.S. findings not cited in its report which prove there is indeed a relation between class size and student success.Tuesday Aug 23, 2005 nyt Once a Booming Market, Educational Software for the PC Takes a Nose Dive
By MATT RICHTEL
In 2000, sales of educational software for home computers reached $498 million. Yet in less than five years, that entire market has come undone.
Saturday Aug 13, 2005 rci Canada's 13 provincial and territorial ministers have ended their annual three-day summer meeting, held this year in Banff, AB. They agreed to invite Prime Minister Paul Martin to meet with them in November to discuss the possibility of additional federal funding for post-secondary education. Quebec's Premier Jean Charest says he's glad he succeeded in convincing his colleagues to agree on the importance of the issue. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty had also pushed in that direction.
Friday Aug 12, 2005 BANFF: FIRST MINISTERS FOCUS ON EDUCATION
Canada's 13 provincial and territorial ministers will turn their attention to the funding of higher education on the second day of their annual three-day summer meeting. Premiers Jean Charest of Quebec and Dalton McGuinty say they would like the federal government to contribute $4 billion more for higher education. Mr. Charest says the federal government should at least as a first step restore its funding to the level of 1995, when then-Finance Minister Paul Martin began slashing the federal budget to eliminate years of budget deficits. However, Premier Lorne Calvert of Saskatchewan, cautions that the provinces shouldn't ask Ottawa for more funding for education without further study. Mr. Calvert recalled that the provinces had had success in obtaining more federal funds for health care because they had identified their needs precisely and presented their arguments logically. Earlier, the premiers approved an action plan aimed at improving the lives of Canadian natives.Monday Apr 25, 2005 ts
MP calls for school swim lessons
Canada`s public health minister believes swimming lessons should be part of every child`s education and she wants to find federal money to help make it happen.Monday Apr 25, 2005 ts
A reluctant superstar What does it take for a Canadian business-school professor to become a household name? Well, it doesn`t hurt if his name is already Henry Mintzberg, a 65-year-old Montrealer who teaches management studies at McGill University. Sharda Prashad reports.
Video gaming Chasing the dream Aug 4th 2005
Wednesday Feb 23, 2005 Marking system at McGill doesn't make the grade
Cooperstock's battle with McGill began last spring, after two students in the bottom quarter of his 500-level AI class complained he had awarded them grades of C-plus - a pass for undergraduates, but a failing mark for students in master's and PhD programs. At McGill, 500-level courses are open to both undergraduate and graduate students.
....Since Cooperstock never told the class precisely what his rating system was, Gruzleski said graduate students - the two who protested and third who had also received a failing mark - had good reason to assume they'd be governed by criteria used in graduate studies. When Cooperstock refused to budge, Gruzleski says, he intervened "out of fairness to the students," whose lives and careers are at stake.
"If he'd wanted to fail them, he should have given them an F."
Cooperstock's Web site is www.cim.mcgill.ca/~jer/Tuesday Feb 22, 2005 TORONTO: DEMOGRAPHY THREATENS UNIVERSITIES
One of Canada's leading demographers warns that Canadian universities and colleges could face serious challenges in 10 years time because of dwindling population numbers. David Foot says a good indication of that decline can be seen now in primary education which has been hurt by a significant decrease in the birth rate. In addition, he says challenges for Canadian institutions will be even greater because schools in the United States will suffer from a similar drop and enrolment.Friday Dec 17, 2004 ts
That`s still a lot of bad teachers Busy week for politicians before break ....I am disturbed that the Liberal government has seen fit to end mandatory teacher testing. The reason given is that 99 per cent of those taking the test pass. Unfortunately, my daughter was taught by a "one-percenter" in Grade 5 and effectively lost a year of schooling.
If there are 193,000 teachers in the province and 1 per cent of them fail to make the grade, that represents approximately 60,000 children getting bad teaching each year. This is totally unacceptableTuesday Nov 30, 2004 nyt You Can't Get Here From There
Cambridge, Mass. — Last year, the number of foreign students at American colleges and universities fell for the first time since 1971. Recent reports show that total foreign student enrollment in our 2,700 colleges and universities dropped 2.4 percent, with a much sharper loss at large research institutions. Two-thirds of the 25 universities with the most foreign students reported major enrollment declines.In his November 16 article in the National Post entitled "Scrap the tuition cap" Adam Daifallah argues that the best solution, for universities and students alike, is to remove the decade old tuition freeze in Quebec while coupling increases in tuition with a commensurate increase in student aid dollars, so that those without the means to pay are not turned away. By allowing Quebec tuition fees to increase and come closer into line with those in the rest of the country, the government would assist the province's universities in raising some much-needed cash.
He cites the success of a similar move in Ontario by the Mike Harris government, pointing out that earlier this year the University of Toronto published results of a 2003 survey that found a 15% increase over the previous year in the number of undergraduates coming from homes with parental income lower than $50,000. The number of doctoral students from the same income group grew by 35%. see Wed 1184Thursday Oct 28, 2004 MEI REPORT CARD ON QUEBEC'S SECONDARY SCHOOLS, 2004 EDITION
The Montreal Economic Institute and the Fraser Institute today released the Report Card on Quebec’s Secondary Schools: 2004 Edition, the only publicly available, independent measurement of 457 of Quebec’s public and private, French and English, secondary schools. The Report Card collects a variety of relevant, objective indicators of school performance into one easily accessible, public document so that all interested parties – parents, school administrators, teachers, students, and taxpayers – can analyze and compare the performance of individual schools. Visit MEI's Website to know more.August 31, 2004 ow The MBA: From a passport to wealth, to office joke
Firms now favour liberal arts degrees over the once-hot business credential -- and the uppity attitude that came with itSaturday Sep 4, 2004 cbcUNDERGRADS PAYING 3.9% MORE THIS FALL University tuition fees continue to grow faster than the rate of inflation, with undergraduates paying an average of 3.9 per cent more to enroll in classes this fall.
Friday Sep 3, 2004 OTTAWA: UNIVERSITY TUITION FEES KEEP RISING
University tuition fees rose again this year, but not as much as in the past several years. Statistics Canada reports that the cost of tuition nationally rose by 3.9 per cent. However, that's the smallest such increase in three years. The federal gatherer of data says the national average slowed because Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Ontario have imposed ceilings on the fees. According to StatsCan, the national average for tuition fees is $4,172, or three times what it was in the 1990-1991 school year. Much of the increase is explainable by the need felt by a number of provincial governments to oblige the students to pay more of their costs because of rising health-care costs and budget cuts to get rid of yearly deficits.Thursday 8 Jul 2004 ts
Technicality scuttles guide-dog case
KITCHENER — A blind man who was thrown out of a convenience store last November because of his guide dog has also been denied his day in court.Thursday 8 Jul 2004 ts
BLIND MAN DENIED ENTRY TO IMMERSION COURSE BECAUSE OF GUIDE DOG A guide dog is in the middle of a dispute between a man who wants to study English and the University of New Brunswick.
Yvan Tessier was turned away from an English immersion course because his guide dog only understands French.
Pavot is a black Labrador retriever who has guided Tessier for two years. He responds to French commands, and doesn't understand any other spoken language. Mesheau says Tessier is welcome to apply to the immersion course again, once his dog learns English commands.
[Susan Mesheau should be removed from the School!]
Business schools But can you teach it? May 20th 2004
Apr 29th 2004 ec
Future depends upon more science professionals The global competition for talent will almost certainly intensify in this decade and the next, leading to a further redrawing of who does what in the world economy and, not coincidentally, generating more aggressive U.S. recruiting of talented graduates of Canadian universities.Apr 29th 2004 ec
Chalk, talk and customer service
FEW people praise the state monopoly in education these days, in Britain, America or anywhere else. The main political parties in Britain support choice for parents, and some blurring of the line between state and independent education. Parents have rather more radical desires: a recent poll in Britain showed that 53% would opt out of the state sector if they could afford to, compared with just 7% who go private now. Alas for them, the existing private schools are horribly complacent. Rather than expand into the beckoning low-cost market, they sit in their existing niche, offering expensive education to the lucky few.Saturday Jan 24, 2004 ts
A financial primer for new graduates with loans
A second-year law student expects to have about $78,000 in loans when she graduates, and she wonders how to plan for her future.Saturday Jan 24, 2004 ts
40,000 teens facing failure: Report New curriculum too hard for some Record dropout rate in high schoolSunday Jan 18, 2004 EDMONTON: GOODALE SAYS EDUCATION FUNDING BECOMING PRIORITY Finance Minister Ralph Goodale says federal funding for education is quickly becoming another national priority. He made the comment in Edmonton following a round of pre-budget consultations. Education groups are pressing Mr. Goodale to set aside a portion of provincial transfer payments specifically for education. He says he'll consider the idea -- if it makes sense. Mr. Goodale was also warned Friday that too much government belt-tightening will hurt those at the bottom of the socio-economic scale. Representatives of the volunteer social services sector told him their clients still haven't recovered from the last round of deficit-fighting cuts. As for additional federal funding for healthcare, Mr. Goodale says he could not guarantee the provinces will get the extra $2 billion they were promised by former prime minister Jean Chretien.
Jan 15th 2004 ec
Social mobility What's it worth?
The government thinks more higher education means more social mobility. It's wrong
THE belief that more education will make Britain more meritocratic and shrivel the class sys
