The practice of providing free tuition to graduated adults seeking to upgrade their education is about to end.
A May 1 deadline has been set to put an end to free tuition for high school courses such as English 12 and Biology 12 for people over 19 who have completed Grade 12. This means people needing those courses to get into college or university will have to pay $500 to take them.
Some say this is a sham and a tattering of the B.C. government's much-vaunted education guarantee. Others say it's better to put scarce resources into literacy courses and K-12 education, or even grants and bursaries to educate workers for high-demand jobs.
There is a case that could be made for a break on fees for young, low-income students struggling to upgrade their education - after all, society benefits from a skilled labour force.
But for now, nobody seems to be making that argument and, after May 1, all graduated adults over 19 will be expected to pay the fee, regardless of their circumstances, and they will have to factor that cost into their life and career plans.
