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In a recently published article, Roger Gibbins, the President and CEO of the Canada West Foundation, says that post-secondary education is, and should be, a matter of national interest.
Formerly a professor of political science at the University of Alberta, Gibbins argues that since the “carriers” (students and graduates) of PSE frequently move across provincial boundaries, post-secondary education should be considered part of Canada’s “common economic space.” In fact, we live in an era when capital, students, professionals and even institutions, are more mobile than ever before, both within Canada and around the world. Issues of quality, access, transfer of credits, recognition of prior learning, health-care human resource planning, research, development and innovation—to name but a few—are all areas that cannot be adequately addressed in a fragmented manner. They require a national perspective, and a national plan.
Increasingly, the provinces have started to take a pan-Canadian view of post-secondary education. Notable examples of this include The Council of the Federation’s Summit on Postsecondary Education and Skills Training in February 2006, and more recently, the April 2007 statement by the Council of Ministers of Education on quality assurance of degree education in Canada.
In addition, British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario have already established quality review agencies and are comparing notes on their processes, to their shared benefit. This inter-provincial co-operation is a promising step toward viewing PSE as a “common economic space” in Canada.
As provinces seek to improve the state of PSE within their own boundaries, they are discovering that a national debate and a national context would help them meet their goals. For example, British Columbia’s vision paper on the future of PSE in that province, Campus 2020: Thinking Ahead, singles out the lack of pan-Canadian information as a serious impediment to B.C.’s ability to plan for the next 15 years. Similarly, the recently concluded commission on the future of higher education in New Brunswick emphasized the need for better information.
In preparing its first annual report on PSE, which was published in 2006, the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) used eight goals for PSE common to all provinces and territories as a framework. Looking back, these goals could easily serve as a foundation for a national framework. CCL’s call for a dialogue on a set of national goals and benchmarks for PSE was endorsed by many provincial governments, and by a wide range of PSE stakeholders.
The creation of a national information base and a national set of goals for PSE does not in any way call into question current jurisdictional arrangements. Jurisdiction poses no barrier to planning, goal-setting and progress. Indeed, individual provinces are far more likely to achieve their objectives within a national framework, than without.
Also, national goals would not undermine the autonomy and accountability of post-secondary institutions—they are, and should remain, fully accountable to their communities and provinces. Nonetheless, given the increasingly important role PSE plays in keeping Canada competitive, there is a need for an ongoing evaluation of the contribution made by the post-secondary education sector to Canada’s overall economic and social success.
Many federal states— Australia is one example—have developed robust national systems that will support decisions about PSE based on adequate and timely information. Even the European Union has developed an overarching strategy aimed at ensuring the availability of high-quality PSE to produce skilled workers and creative thinkers throughout its member countries.
The Canadian Council on Learning hopes that its recent proposal for a pan-Canadian PSE data strategy will be a useful contribution to the debate. In order to make progress, there is a need to establish mechanisms to promote national, informed, evidence-based public debate on goals for PSE. And it is not only the outcome of informed debate that is important; the process itself is valuable.
Working collectively toward pan-Canadian positions and conclusions would involve all partners that play a role in post-secondary education: learners, educators, institutions, employers, and governments, in a vital dialogue about how best to meet the aspirations of Canadians for their PSE sector.
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