Bill No. 90 - Education Act - Second Reading
MS. CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : Madam Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to speak on Bill No. 90. I'm glad it was introduced. The New Democratic Party caucus agrees that the lives of students in our province is very complex. There are certainly many skills that they require and probably don't have. As important, they deserve access to all of the supports and skills that they need to have healthy, productive lives.
This bill certainly highlights some of those skills that I suspect many Nova Scotians would expect that our students are already being taught. It's somewhat interesting to find out that they are not.
I remember taking a different version of this course myself in Grade 9 - PDR, personal development in relationships. My two recollections of that course were actually learning some really important lessons about what healthy relationships look like, and how to write a cheque and how to balance a chequebook. So, the first one has stood me in very good stead, the second I don't use very much anymore.
With respect, Madam Speaker, I don't actually believe that the core skills our children need right now are to understand the value of money. With the highest rate of child poverty in this province, something many speakers have spoken very clearly about, both in this Chamber as well as the many teachers who presented to Law Amendments recently, I would say rather that many of our children know the value of money very acutely - they just don't have any. So, it's my view that that might be where we might put the balance of our energies as a government.
Nova Scotia universities have seen the highest increases in tuition in the country and many of our students who are starting university now are expected to start out with an average debt load of around $40,000. Of course, it's important, as the member pointed out, to know how to apply to university and how to apply for loans, but again with respect, I'd prefer to see a path to affordable or free post-secondary education than to educate students how to best initiate themselves into a lifetime of debt repayment.
You know, along those lines as many will recall, our Party introduced a bill mandating free tuition to Nova Scotia Community College, and you know there's an economics lesson in there - something north of 90 per cent of graduates at the Nova Scotia Community College stay in Nova Scotia, they find gainful employment, contribute to the tax base, buy homes, do all of the things that the government member was speaking about aspiring to do. If we could in fact, provide them with that education I think it's pretty clear that it would pay dividends down the road.
Again, is it important to understand debt? Absolutely. I think many of us, and those close to us, understand all too well the importance of establishing and maintaining good credit. As we move throughout our lives this becomes an important thing that many people have not previously paid attention to but, that being said, if your choice is irresponsible credit or food, I don't penalize the folks who choose bad credit - they don't have a choice. So, again, for my money - pardon the pun - I would choose to alleviate poverty and the conditions that children find themselves in, rather than teaching themselves how to painfully manage through it.
Along the same lines, I think it's pretty unlikely that most young people in our province are neglecting their RRSPs out of ignorance. More likely, and this is borne out by the young people I know and speak to, and are in my community and in my family, they're doing so because they're precariously employed in low-wage jobs, and they are saddled with tens of thousands of dollars of debt coming out of university.
I remember the first time that I contributed to an RRSP and I felt like a billionaire. I mean, it felt so amazing that I could be putting - you know, that was sort of a grown up right of passage for me. So, are RRSPs important? Absolutely. But, again, I think that as with many other elements of financial security in the world today, they're becoming more and more of a luxury.
We know that many, and we've talked a lot in this Chamber, about how many high school students are dealing with severe mental health issues without adequate access to timely supports. In fact, this was clearly the inspiration of the bill we just debated, that was introduced by the Interim Leader of the Official Opposition. We know students are experiencing sexual violence and that they lack access to culturally appropriate, province-wide, community-based services. Can we provide this kind of skill development in our schools? We're all waiting for the findings of the Commission on Inclusion, but in this case we're talking about pedagogy - could mental health and mental health awareness not be part of the content of what our children are taught?
Now, Madam Speaker . . .
MADAM SPEAKER « » : Order. I'd like the chatter to lower a bit.
The honourable member for Dartmouth South has the floor.
MS. CHENDER « » : Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'm not sure if it's the business of the members of this Chamber to legislate pedagogy. I appreciate the impetus behind this bill. I don't take issue with any parts of this bill, but I think this points to an issue around the way that this government runs the core functions over which it presides, namely education, health, community services. There is a shocking lack of transparency. We know that in education, with the passage of Bill No. 72, that has become all the more acute.
I would prefer an open and accessible Department of Education and Early Childhood Development where we could have some dialogue with, or access to, the pedagogical experts and we could suggest, or understand with more depth, what is going on in terms of pedagogy. Respectfully, Madam Speaker, if it is the business of this House to determine pedagogy, another one of my personal votes would be for civic engagement. Right now, students have a choice about whether they want to learn about government, about how government works, and about how to engage with government. That knowledge is available, but it isn't mandatory. In my view, all high school students should graduate with a robust knowledge of the political systems by which they are governed.
We've seen abysmal voter turnout, we've seen the challenges of civic engagement. Where do our students learn about effective organizing? How do our students learn how to most strategically wield their power as constituents and taxpayers? When, and how often, are they instructed about the power, privilege, and import of their vote?
I know these courses exist. I firmly believe that my Grade 12 political science class put me on the path to this very Chamber, and I know that some of my colleagues have spent the better part of their careers, including my colleague from Dartmouth East, engaged in this exact pursuit. But if we're going to make something mandatory by a law of this House, why not this?
Many of our students are struggling, Mr. Speaker, they are watching adults in their lives struggle to make ends meet, and to provide care to young children and aging family members. They see their own teachers increasingly demoralized and disrespected by government.
We want young people to thrive, Mr. Speaker. Career development is one small part of that. For my money, though, they need real investments in their future - in post-secondary education, in health care, in adequate wages, and social services and, most important, they need to be taught how to demand them.
MR. SPEAKER « » : The honourable member for Dartmouth East.
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