Education is an expensive privilege

It is all very well and fine to protest any proposed rise in tuition fees. Nobody wants to pay more for anything; that’s not only human nature, it’s the basis of our very way of life and what drives our economy. But in Quebec, where CEGEP is practically free and university tuition rates are so relatively low that Montreal is a veritable Mecca for thousands of students from the across the country and abroad, this fortunate situation should be celebrated by students — not condemned in angry demonstrations.

Yes, the provincial government plans to raise tuition fees, and yes, local students are likely to pay more for the privilege of going to university. But, in all fairness to the government, the hikes will be spread out over a period of time and will only be raised to bring Quebec closer to the national average. Montreal will still be descended upon by legions of students at the end of each summer, and they will still be contributing to the local economy. McGill will still be considered the Harvard of Canada, and Université de Montréal will retain its lofty reputation around the world. The downside to the whole thing is that struggling students will have to work a bit harder to meet their payments at the registrar’s office.

In an ideal world, access to higher education would be everyone’s right, not a privilege reserved only for those with the means to pay for it. Unfortunately, this is far from an ideal world, and the only way to meet constantly rising expenses is to charge more at the source — the students themselves.

Anyone in the rest of Canada or the United States would be understandably outraged if they happened to see TV news footage of students demonstrating in the streets of Montreal. Their university expenses are much, much higher, and yet they don’t complain. They accept the reality and simply work the extra hours required to meet their expenses. On the other hand, our privileged students are seen as ungracious and spoilt, protesting against something that most others would gladly have. This is an embarrassing image — one which we should not be projecting outside the province.