The political battle over postsecondary education in Alberta
The election outcome signals continued controversy over the state of postsecondary education in Alberta in which many fear the very purpose of higher education is under attack.
The situation has sweeping ramifications both throughout the province and beyond Alberta’s borders. Alberta is “a real bellwether for what’s coming to the rest of Canada,” says Dr. Spooner. “What I see as sort of a wider assault on higher ed that’s happening globally in certain countries, and certainly throughout the United States, is definitely happening in Alberta.”
Dr. Spooner examined that “assault” in a chapter he wrote for Anger and Angst: Jason Kenney’s Legacy and Alberta’s Right, a book of essays edited by Trevor W. Harrison and Ricardo Acuña, published this year. Against the backdrop of a larger anti-intellectual movement, he argues that Alberta’s underfunding and cuts have created a path to major restructuring.
Provincial funding cuts to postsecondary education totalled more than half a billion dollars between 2019 and 2023. That represents a staggering 31 per cent cut to funding over the last five years, according to data from Higher Education Strategy Associates. University Affairs requested an interview with new Minister of Advanced Education Rajan Sawhney, but did not hear back by the time of publication.
At the same time, the provincial government is repurposing and reprogramming the role of universities, says Dr. Spooner. “There’s a real push to move universities away from their traditional mission of serving the public and democratic society, to narrow them and reduce them to serving industry and labour market needs,” he says.
When the role of universities is reduced to serving the economy, Dr. Spooner says the many benefits that a robust higher education system bring to society are at risk of being lost. “It has to be about more than just jobs.” He thinks university degrees should give students portable and flexible skills – such as critical thinking and creative thinking – that can be applied to many different types of work, including jobs that have not been invented yet. |Read more https://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/the-political-battle-over-postsecondary-education-in-alberta/|
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