HE. Royal Commission on Arts, Letters and Sciences headed by Hon. Vincent Massey, holding sessions in Halifax last week, heard a strong brief from the National Federation of Cana- dian University Students on Fed- eral Aid to Education. The facts lined up in the brief were a pow- erful indictment of the age-old capitalist argument that any youngster who really “wants” to go to- college and has the “in- itiative” can do so. The brief started with an eX pose. of the shameful condition of higher education in Canada. Can- ada’s student population of 60,- ~ 000 (claimed to be “abnormally high’!) is actually among the lowest in capitalist countries. Figures gathered by NECUS show that - in: Ontario 56,000 chil- dren graduated or left school (ele- mentary and secondary) during the school year 1945-46, of which about 3,900, or just under seven percent, went on to university or nurses’ training schools. And ‘this in Canada’s richest province With 70 percent of Canadians fall- ing into the below $2,000-a-year income group, it is obvious that the average family can’t afford _ to send even one of their children to) ‘college. The long-term trend in higher education has been to restrict the campus more and more to the up- per income groups. A report sub- mitted to the Canadian’ Youth Commission in 1944 shows that at Queen's University, in the pre- vious 25 years, “the proportion of _students enrolled from rural dis- triets decreased from 21 percent to seven percent and from work- ers’ homes from 21 pepeene to 12 percent.” i The argument that children of 7 workers and farmers. don’t “want to go to college was aptly ans- Wered in a previous NFCUS docu- ment: : “Some students cannot borrow Sufficient money from parents | or friends to enable them to get a higher education ,some would be unwilling to borrow from parents or friends, and still many more “never lift their heads to glimps® _ iate in Toronto, out of 280 stu-. the university and hence never want to attend, because they know or are told at an early age ‘that higher ‘education for them is an impossibility. Children. school- ed in these thonghts cannot be expected to evince any interest in higher | ‘education. But many Students who want higher educa tion are precluded by financial reasons, In 1945, in Jarvis Colleg- dents” who wanted to go to uni- uy versity, 105 or 38° percent: could mat BTfoRy: to do 0.” e ae The, brief showed ‘that a stu- ‘dent simply cannot work his way through college. Here is what a NFCUS report has to say: : “avefage. student, including those who have the advantage of being. A able ine live at home, is as follows: ee Ny a wT De. - cost of one year’s study to the a , Food, ciothing, shelter, laundry ....---++-- $512 (49%) Transportation, health, recreation, clubs, churches, miscel- laneous isin. i ce $237 (23%) University fees, books, EP Oy ibe E Ss CA a ae $287 (22%) Totals 2523 aces ee $1,036 (100%) “phé average expenditure of a student boarding in a private home (the cheapest method jiving away from one’s actual home and thus the situation of, for example, rural students) is $1,377. These figures are, of course, averages and include students with ample means, but they could be reduced only to a small extent even by rigorous penny-pinching. MA Dominion Bureau of Sta- tistics report: “To meet an av- erage total expense ‘of $1,036, a student could, by his own efforts, — provide $283 from | summer ‘work, and $139 by part-time employ- ment (in Christmas work, ete.). ‘This leaves over $600 per year to. come from -some ‘source other than the. ‘students’ own efforts. Only a student who is extremely fortunate in having part-time em- : ployment with a high return can Higher education for thousands less fortunate is an impossibil- ity?” Ln erg Meanwhile, Griversity fees are rising, an average of $30 a year in! 1947-48. There is a danger that fees may take a further rise in the near future. With veteran ' students leaving, the universities pay his way through university. : are faced with a loss of income from the federal government What price a Canadian (subsidy on a per capita basis from the department of veterans’ affairs) amounting to almost 50 ‘percent of their total revenue. And the increased emphasis on. technical subjects is making edu- ‘cation more expensive every year. ‘The brief will cite facts to show that post-graduate study is be- ‘coming more essential with the ‘increased specialization in the sciences, 4 The main demand of the NF- ‘CUS brief to the Massey Com- ‘mission is for 10,000 $500-a-year ‘scholarships, the number to be ‘increased until. the need is filled, ‘to be provided. by the federal gov-. Pep atuee be The brief also included ~ university education? | a request for direct Ottawa aid _ to the universities on a per capita ; basis; the suggested ‘figure: $60 annually, — All these facts, and more con- tained in the brief, speak for themselves. ~ ~ Implementation | of the Federal Aid demands, modest as they are, would make history in Canadian education. The cam- paign for scholarships begins at a time’ when our country is in the shadow of economic crisis.’ Referring. to trends toward greater inequality of opportunity in education, a NFCUS statement reads: “Attendance at university is directly related to. employment conditions. The foregoing statis- tics were taken in Canada during a period of high employment, but these conditions may not always prevail.” : * By LIONEL ALBERT The fight for scholarships is a fight for students’ needs, for sending the children of workers and farmers to college. It is thus a fight against the policy of Cana- dian finance-capital, which wants to make the people bear the bur- Sa den of the crisis. One hundred and twelve years ago, William Lyon MacKenzie de- clared in his Navy Island Procla- mation (December 13, 1837): “Am- ple funds to be reserved from the vast natural resources of our country to secure the blessings of education to every citizen.” If ‘Canada’s 60,000 students, together with the labor movement, fight hard enough to force the egovern- ment to implement these propo- -sals, they could begin to make this declaration a reality. Polish miners get new charter Polish miners in 1950 will re- ceive higher wages and pensions, longer vacations and improved social welfare and medical ser- vices. These rights are aneluded in a. Miners’ Charter established by Poland’s Council of Ministers as Tart of the new 6-year plan. Amoné the major specific pro- visions are the following: ‘Workers, technicians and engi- neers employed in the mining in- dustry for more than one year will receive additional quarterly bonuses equal to 10 to 20. percent ~ of their wages, tax free. Annual vacations with pay will be 21. days. A miner with a 3-year — record of satisfactory work will get free round-trip railroad tickets for himself and members of his family to any place in the coun- try. Miners over 55 -years of age will receive a pension equal to 60 percent of their average wages, - even if they continue, to work. The Miners’. Union includes all manual, technical and adminis- trative workers in the coal, jiron, zine and salt mining industries. Union representatives. serve in parliament. In. the mining regi- ons, local members of the union — are key figures as town, district and county councillors. | Union members also take an active part in planning the na- tion’s economy, improving indus- try practices and raising miners’ — living standards. Members of the union executive board are on the Cenfral State Coa] Commission, * the management committee and its several departments. On the other énd of the scale, the Works Councils play a major role by their practical control of production. They have the right to demand reports from manage- ment and are kept fully posted as to the state of production at every mine. This enables the union to © check on the inefficiency or lack - of initiative of mine managers. In. the last three years, wages have almost tripled and unem-. ployment in the mines has been wiped out. Before the war every fifth miner was jobless. : PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JANUARY 27, 1950—PAGE 5