Nicoll Andrea Ariza | October 17, 2022
As the foundation for individual, societal and economic growth, education provides individuals with the necessary tools to be actively contributing members of society. Having ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, the Canadian Federal government is required to provide children with human rights such as the right to "education, health care and an adequate standard of living" (UNICEF, 2021). Similarly, under provincial education rights, all children regardless of their socioeconomic and immigration status are required to have a formal education up until high school (ARCH, 2019). Furthermore, at both the federal and provincial levels, compulsory education from the ages of 5 to 16 -18 is provided for individuals to have the minimum level of knowledge and skills to fulfill their basic living necessities. As a result, the question of whether education should be a privilege or right within Canada is divided under the following issue: is it necessary to provide free education past the Canadian provincial standard (high school)? In response, I find that the provincial government's education rights underestimate the importance of higher education as part of maintaining a minimal standard of living, considering factors such as inflation and the increasingly competitive labor market, both of which define a 'minimal standard of living. In addition, another issue that arises is with the words 'privilege' and 'right'. The word 'privilege' implies that education is only accessible to individuals that are financially able to afford it, while education as a 'right' suggests that it is a negative right that the state must provide. In this essay, I argue that education in Canada should be a right as it reduces income disparity amongst the population which ultimately will lead to greater socio-economic growth.
Throughout the first section of this essay, I will be discussing Article 26 under the United Nations and how its definition of the right to education fails to include the importance of higher education to meet the goals of Article 26. I will then be discussing how the right to education is necessary for individuals to keep up with the ongoing changing labor market in Canada. Thirdly, in connection to the continuously changing labor market, the right to education is essential to prepare individuals academically with the skills needed to meet those labor demands, specifically in the tech industry. Lastly, I will be addressing the barriers faced by minority groups within education and provide possible solutions that could achieve education as a right. Under Article 26 (1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the right to education is defined as a right for every individual which can be accessed without cost at the elementary school level (McCowan, 2010) to provide the 'fundamental' tools for a person to comprehend and navigate the world around them. The issue that arises from declaring elementary education as 'fundamental' is that it disregards how fundamental skills and knowledge continue to or develop past the elementary level. Under section 2 of Article 26, the UN states that education is intended to be used to fulfill the "development of human personality" and to ensure the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms (McCowan, 2010). The full development of human personality I believe is based on the assumption that every individual has socio-economic stability per Western standards to fully develop who they are. According to Professor David Buss, by the age of 30, an individual would have reached its most structured form of maturity in which one has a "stable set of patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors" (Hosie, 2017). Considering that an individual reaches its most static form of maturity around the age of thirty, it is evident that the main stages of schooling, elementary, secondary, and post-secondary all have a detrimental influence on the development of beliefs, personality traits, habits, behaviors, and understandings that allow for individuals to consciously protect their human rights and the rights of others. In addition, to become a contributing member of society that can provide a living for him or herself requires a minimum completion of secondary education, therefore core skills such as literacy and numeracy that are taught at a basic level in elementary level are skills that are continuously being practiced in order to be utilized at its full potential throughout adulthood (Campbell, 2020).
Education as a right in Canada would allow individuals to continuously develop and update their skills to meet in-demand occupations and therefore minimizing the economic disparity gap. According to the Government of Canada, in 2020 the ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) sector contributed a total of 96.8 billion dollars in GDP (2020) and it is estimated that the tech industry in Canada is on the path to having a 34% job increase over the next nine years as all industries become more reliant on technology to enhance productively (BDC, 2021). Considering the growth and dependency that the Canadian economy has on technology it is crucial to ensure that students have adequate academic resources to expand and improve their skills to keep up with occupational demands. Considering how crucial technology has become within Canadian education in the form of long-distance learning through virtual lectures and access to extensive resources through online libraries for example (Bennett, 2016) it is evident digital literacy should be implemented within the Canadian education system to provide students with the necessary and up to date knowledge on technological advancements, regardless of their socio-economic background. In 2013-2014 the Ontario provincial government spent over 23 billion dollars on education in which part of the funding was used to create the Ontario eLearning Consortium (OeLC) which introduced online learning to students across Ontario (Bennet, 2016). Since then, virtual learning has become a tool for both students and teachers to work more efficiently by having access to virtual classrooms without having to be physically present.
The concept 'digital divide' describes the gap in access to modern information and technology due to factors such as socio-economic background, geographical location, age, language, broadband access, and internet access (Jaeger et al., 2012). One of the major causes of the digital divide is the insufficient funding available to expand broadband access within urban areas (Jaeger et al., 2012). Therefore, only those of upper-class backgrounds have the privilege of utilizing the technology available. Without access to broadband networks, many individuals are unable to develop digital literacy- the ability "to locate, evaluate and use digital information" (Jaeger et al., 2012) which is necessary to navigate technology and advance within the labor market. For students living in low-income communities where access to the internet is limited due to insufficient government funding, virtual learning becomes an obstacle rather than an advancement. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the digital divide became a growing concern for both educators and parents because while the Ontario government invested 15 million dollars in providing devices and/or internet for students it was still not enough (Gallagher et al., 2021). To expand, The Ontario Ministry of Infrastructure estimated that before the pandemic 58% of households had less than one device per person, and approximately 24% of low-income households relied on cell phones for internet access (Gallagher et al., 2021). For parents with multiple children, the cost of virtual learning is much higher because it requires each child to have access to a computer, the internet, and financial stability to have a stay-at-home parent to be present during online classes. By enforcing education as a right in Canada, provincial governments would be responsible for providing all students with equal access to digital tools such as computers, the internet, and courses that focus on teaching digital literacy.
The need for the right to education is especially necessary when students are faced with unforeseen circumstances such as health concerns, financial uncertainty, and government instability. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, students were faced with a sudden change in their academic learning experience. The first school closure began on March 17, 2020, when teachers, parents, and students were faced with the obstacle of having to immediately adapt to virtual learning (Gallagher et al., 2021) without prior instruction or plan of action from the provincial government. As a result of the unprecedented circumstances, students of all academic levels from primary to post-secondary faced a significant learning loss. Throughout this section, I will be primarily focusing on the negative outcomes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of elementary and high school education. Under the Ontario Education Act and section 23 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the provincial government and federal government are responsible for providing students with the opportunity to fulfill their academic goals (Gallagher et al., 2021) and I believe that under the COVID-19 circumstances students were not adequately prepared or supported to fulfill these goals because of the provinces' inability to analyze how students, especially those of minority backgrounds, would be affected by the changes in both the short and long run. Schools were forced to experiment with synchronous and asynchronous learning, leaving parents with additional responsibilities such as staying at home to ensure their children are adapting to the new format and investing in additional technology (computers). A study conducted by Professors across Ontario concluded that for each month that schools were closed it was predicted that there could be a one percent decrease in lifetime earnings which is estimated to cost the federal income a GDP loss of 1.6 trillion CAD (Gallagher et al., 2021). In addition, support programs designed for low-income families stopped running, resulting in students struggling at a higher rate compared to those of higher socio-economic backgrounds.
A Canadian survey interviewed 9,500 educators to analyze the effects of COVID-19 on student learning and it was concluded that over 55% of elementary and secondary school teachers were concerned that under the COVID-19 regulations and health concerns, students would fall behind and negatively affect their learning outcomes (Gallagher et al., 2021). The learning disparity among students caused by COVID-19 demonstrates that income inequality will only continue to increase, and those from vulnerable backgrounds would be the most affected due to the insufficient financial and academic support needed for them to recover. The right to education in Canada would help in minimizing the income disparity caused by the inaccessibility to higher education. In Canada, immigrants make up over 21.5 percent of the population and approximately 300,000 new immigrants arrive in Canada each year (Jeudy, 2021). In addition, in 2019, Statistics Canada 29% of the Ontario population was composed of visible minorities and 3% identified as Aboriginal (Campbell, 2020). In most cases, newly immigrated and racialized Canadians face many socio-economic barriers such as a change in culture, language adaptation, and devaluation of foreign experience (Jeudy, 2021). For example, a study conducted in 2015 concluded that 20 percent of individuals who studied and worked as engineers overseas were able to transfer their credentials and continue their careers in Ontario (Gagnon and Ng, 2021). In connection to education, provincially funded programs such as the Equity Action Plan focus on providing resources for low-income secondary school students (Campbell, 2020). The plan of action included implementing a culturally inclusive curriculum and creating leadership opportunities for low-income students (Campbell, 2020). While the provincial government attempted to address equity within the education system, it did not address socio-economic barriers such as unemployment amongst minority groups, devaluation of overseas credentials, and the lack of increase in scholarship/grant funding. Access to post-secondary education is also a major obstacle for minority groups as the average domestic tuition for a full-time undergraduate student starts at $6,000 a year and increases depending on the university and program of interest (Statcan, 2021). In addition, the admission process for students is based on a competitive basis in which candidates are chosen based on who is 'best qualified' (Michalski et al., 2017) and is measured by academic achievement. The ideal candidate for most universities is those who can prosper in the institution while upholding the institution's prestigious reputation. Dating back to the 1960s -1970s university enrollment maintained a gradual increase for minority groups, but there was no indication of a decrease in disparities amongst social classes (Guppy, 1984). The issue that arises is that most of the time students with the highest grades are those of wealthy backgrounds that can afford support such as tutoring to achieve high grades, while students of low-income backgrounds must succeed with minimal or no support and are faced with at-home responsibilities. College provides a more accessible opportunity for students as it has a lower tuition cost, starting at $2,400 (OntarioColleges, 2021), but it does not provide the same potential earnings as a bachelor's degree. For example, males with a bachelor's degree are estimated to earn about $64,000 whereas college graduates earn approximately $53,000 a year (Michalski, 2021). Individuals who do not complete their high school education face economic and social consequences such as higher dependency on social services, higher chances of involvement in criminal activity, and minimal academic skills (Sharanjit, 2017).
Throughout this essay, I have addressed the many issues facing students across Canada. While the enforcement of education as a right is not considered to be a financially viable option due to the high costs and funding required by the government, some solutions could promote the possibility of free education. Most recently in 2019, the Ontario government set out to cut tuition fees by 10% for two years to make education more accessible across the province (DH Staff, 2019). While no major studies have been done to analyze the outcomes of this reduction, many are torn between the increase in accessibility and the concern with a decrease in university program funding since the universities and colleges have no choice but to take a $250 million revenue loss (DH Staff, 2019). In 2015 the Newfoundland and Labrador government took a step towards free education by eliminating all student loans up until 2019 (CFS, 2015). The elimination of student debt was done through the province allocating 0.035% of its annual GDP to cover student loans (CFS, 2015). A similar method could be applied within Ontario, where the 0.019% of GDP that is being used to pay defaulted student loans and bankruptcy can be matched and therefore eliminate approximately 13.6% of debt for students applying for student loans (CFS, 2015).
In conclusion, the right to education should be a right rather than a privilege as it is essential to the socio-economic development of an individual and provides equal opportunity for success regardless of social class or economic status. Not only would education as a right decrease economic disparity within Canada but also eliminate generational poverty. The process of implementing education as a right begins with addressing issues such as the ones addressed throughout this essay. Issues such as providing students with adequate resources (digital and financial) to maintain and obtain the necessary skills needed to keep up with the labor market and technological advancement. As well as, discussing what is considered to be 'fundamental' learning and understanding that all levels of education provide crucial skills and knowledge needed not only to succeed financially but also in one's personal life. In addition, it is also important to address the socio-economic disparity present within the education system in which minority groups are not provided with the necessary tools to pursue higher education. Education as a privilege would only allow for individuals of high social class to prosper within a capitalist society while leaving the working and lower class with the blurred hope of achieving economic success.
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