Student group encouraged by Liberal throne speech

Along with the many other promises made during Thursday’s throne speech on Thursday was a pledge that the B.C. Liberals would reverse funding cuts to adult basic education (ABE).

The B.C. Federation of Students is encouraged by the news after protesting the cuts across the province.

“Students and faculty have been campaigning for restoration of ABE funding for the last two years and it’s encouraging to see both the B.C. Liberals and B.C. NDP on the same page with this issue,” said Simka Marshall, chairperson of the British Columbia Federation of Students.

ABE programs are predominantly high school equivalent and literacy courses for adults returning to school.

In 2014, the Liberal government cut $6.9 million from adult basic education programming at post-secondary institutions in B.C. and removed the tuition-free option.

A total of $9 million was also cut from adult basic education programming in the K-12 school system.

According to Marshall, public postsecondary institutions currently charge $1,600 per term in tuition fees for fulltime ABE courses.

And due to the funding cuts, institutions experienced enrollment drops from 20 to 60 per cent across B.C.

“The cuts in ABE funding and application of tuition fees have resulted in a dramatic drop in enrollment and have prevented thousands of low-income citizens from accessing the retraining they need for B.C.’s changing labour market,” Marshall said.

“The restoration of this funding is good news for those adults looking to go back to school and we hope that with the funding commitment comes a reinstatement of the tuition-free mandate.”

In 2015, students launched a provincewide campaign calling on the provincial government to stop the cuts to ABE funding and reverse the introduction of tuition fees.

The campaign, Don’t Close the Door, was endorsed by community organizations, labour unions and 23 municipalities in B.C.

The campaign was also presented to Prince George city council last month.

“CNC did offer them tuition-free at one time and now charges $533 per course. This is very expensive for high school education,” Marshall told council.

According to the B.C. Federation of Students, ABE students come from the most marginalized groups with 58 per cent being women, 18 per cent are indigenous and 20 per cent are parents.

Students with developmental disabilities also enrol in adult education programs as well as English as a second language students.

ABE students fall into three basic categories: those who want to complete high school studies, upgrade high school courses and seek to improve basic literary or numeracy.

About 70 per cent of ABE students go on to further their studies which is consistent with numbers from 2011-2013, according to the federation.