Chapter 3
Chapter 3 ArticleTitle: PREMIER ANNOUNCES $29M FOR NEW UCFV CAMPUS
Source: http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2005-2009/2007AE0001-000025.htm
On January 16, 2007, Gordon Campbell announced that more than $29 million will be set aside to purchase 34 hectares of land in order to build a trades and technology centre for the University College of the Fraser Valley’s new Chilliwack campus as part of B.C.’s first full-service education park. Campbell believes that it is important for us to improve our competitiveness and productivity through education and training. He adds that the creation of this new centre will help us meet the demand for highly trained, skilled workers in many areas. The centre is scheduled to open this fall with new classrooms, labs and shops, and 690 training spaces. UCFV’s land purchase will be approximately the size of 50 football fields, and will serve up to 12,000 students. This education park will be joined by the Justice Institute of B.C., the RCMP and the World Trade University. The school district and UCFV are preparing to enhance the K-12 and post-secondary systems to boost student participation and completion rates at all levels. According to Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell, the expanded space will accommodate twice as many UCFV students at the Chilliwack campus to meet the educational needs of B.C.’s fastest-growing area by the year 2010. In addition to investing in land and new buildings, the Province is funding 1,700 new student spaces at UCFV as part of its 25,000-seat expansion plan. The post-secondary seat expansion is part of the government’s goal to make British Columbia the best-educated and most literate place in North America.
Chapter 3 focuses on government involvement. In this article we read that our provincial government, Gordon Campbell, is contributing a large amount of money to education. For reasons like this, it is better for education to be controlled by the government. With government control, I think it’s the best interest of the government for students to get the best education. However, with privatized control, I think the people in charge will be more interested in making a profit for themselves. Another disadvantage for privatized control is that they have control over their tuition prices. If all schools decide to raise their tuition costs a few extra dollars, it’s difficult for us to do anything about it since education is a necessity.
posted by 12yangee @ 6:12 PM
1 Comments:
It is evident that BC's population and its economy are growing at an unprecedented rate of growth. In addition to the fact that baby boomers are retiring within the next 10-20 years, we really need to replace that massive workforce. The premier's injection of $29 million into creating an educational institution designed specifically for trades and technology would most likely succeed that need. As the winter Olympics is rapidly approaching to Vancouver, I personally think that investment of the new UCFV would be beneficial. Currently, the Olympics Committee is going over budget due to the expensive payout to the foreign trade workers, as BC is facing an increasing shortage of skilled trade workers. Ultimately, the new UCFV campus would serve to educate students attracted to the trades and technological field, and would also serve in the long term to reduce the amount of tax for BC taxpayers. With BC growing large highly skilled workers in a variety of areas, we would not have to resort to hiring foreign skilled workers which are quite costly.
Jordan Wong
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