Scholarship program a wise investment
British Columbia has extensive historical, cultural and economic ties to Asia. Consider that roughly 28 per cent of Metro Vancouver’s population is of east or southeast Asian origin. Ethnic Chinese, who account for 17 per cent of the people living in Metro Vancouver, have been a fixture in B.C. since the first wave of immigration was triggered by the gold rush in the mid-1850s.
More than 40 per cent of B.C.’s merchandise exports are destined for Asia. China is B.C.’s second-largest trading partner, accounting for 18 per cent of those exports; and Japan is third largest, accounting for 15 per cent.
Given these linkages, the announcement recently that the B.C. government will fund a $150,000 scholarship program for students from China, Japan and South Korea is a wise and welcome initiative to strengthen them.
Successful applicants for the scholarships will receive $1,250 to study in B.C. Twenty students from each country will be eligible at the kindergarten to Grade 12 level and a further 20 scholarships from each country will go to Grade 12 students heading for post-secondary institutions.
Out of B.C.’s $5.6-billion education budget — of which more than 80 per cent goes to pay for public school instruction — the amount of money devoted to this program is more of a goodwill gesture than a serious subsidy. After all, international students in the K-to-12 stream pay about $13,000 per academic year and first-year foreign students face tuition of $24,000 to $30,000, compared with just $7,000 for a Canadian student. If the incentive of the scholarship encourages just a dozen new K-12 students or half a dozen post-secondary students to come to study in B.C., the program will more than pay for itself. The investment in international students takes nothing away from B.C. public school students who pay no tuition or university students who have a multitude of scholarship and bursary programs available to them.
In fact, international students support teaching jobs and help fund additional places for B.C. and other Canadian students at post-secondary institutions. The B.C. government estimates that the 17,000 international students in B.C.’s K-12 school system alone contribute $400 million to the provincial economy. A study by Roslyn Kunin and Associates in 2012 determined that international students in B.C. spent $1.9 billion, contributed $1.2 billion to gross domestic product, delivered $66.9 million in government revenue and supported 21,460 jobs. Given all of its positive impacts, it was disappointing to see a Vancouver school board trustee deliver misinformed comment on the scholarship program.
Of course, the benefits international students bring are not only here and now, they hold the promise of greater cultural understanding, language skills, strengthened relationships and economic prosperity in the future. Some international students may choose to stay and settle in B.C. and in so doing improve the quality of the workforce while addressing the pressing issue of our aging population. In short, the scholarship program is a modest investment in human capital that promises benefits to those countries sending their best and brightest and to B.C., which welcomes them with open arms.