access to education – The Concordian

With international students under attack by tuition increases, international student associations have mixed reactions.

International students have long been an integral part of the academic appeal of Concordia, contributing not only to the university’s global outlook but also to the local economy.

International student associations, such as the African Student Association of Concordia (ASAC) and the Latin American Student Organization (LASO), are key organizations representing the interests of students from around the world. Through outreach initiatives, support networks, and collaborative efforts with university administrations, the associations seek to empower their members and amplify their voices.

Iman Kande, the communications executive for ASAC, said: “We try with the resources that we have […] to make people’s voices heard.” Kande said that since ASAC is not an official group, it is difficult for them to help students in every capacity. However, if someone comes to them with a problem, they will be able to point them in the right direction.

According to Kande, ASAC sees a lot of African students approaching the association and encourages others to come to their events even if they are not African themselves.

“It’s our way to spread our culture, […] we were taught that a stranger becomes family and that’s kind of our goal,” Kande said.

With approximately 11,000 students coming from outside of Canada, Concordia has a lot of international students, many of which contribute to their respective international student groups. Now with the implementation of the tuition increases for international students, many are wondering how international student groups will survive?

“In terms of social media, in September we had 1,900 followers and today we have 2,400, in the span of like 6-7 months,” Kande said.”For example, when we host events, there’s more people than there were last year and every year, it just grows and grows.”

She attributes the growth of the association to the exposure that international students are receiving due to the tuition increases.

There still is a large negative aspect to the tuition increases for international students. Mathieu Gonzales, president of LASO, said: “It’s scary to know that maybe LASO was going to cease to exist further down the line, or it’s not going to be as important as it is now.”

“I do know certain people that are still debating whether or not it’s the right decision for them,” he added. Gonzales mentioned that members of LASO know that loved ones back home are looking more into options like the U.S. for their education “now that the tuition is going to increase” in Canada.

Gonzales said that it is difficult for people to afford to come to Canada to study since the cost of living is so high. Adding higher tuition on top of that would be a huge barrier for a lot of students coming from Latin America.

But with Concordia’s other student associations striking and picketing classrooms against tuition increases, some international students have felt ostracized from their in-province peers who pay a lot less per class.

International student associations like ASAC and LASO want to see more international student groups included in the discussions surrounding striking.

“It would have been nice to be included in that because it affects international students especially. So obviously, if they wanted to have a better result with the strike, it would have been smart for them to contact us,” Gonzales said.

Gonzales stressed that if students were part of the strikes, the associations cannot help them if they got into any trouble: “LASO cannot be responsible or can’t protect anyone, even if it’s the good cause.”

Kande from ASAC also wished the strike organizers had reached out to international student groups such as theirs. “If our voices were more heard, I think more impacts would or could have been made,” Kande continued.

Kande said that individually, ASAC supports the movement against the tuition fee increases, but ASAC has not adopted the stance officially. With more strikes set to happen in March, and Concordia taking the Quebec government to the Superior Court, international students will be paying attention. The next strike dates are March 11 to the 15.

Has your mind ever gone on a rant about all the things that are wrong with society? If yes, then I’m sure once you start, you spiral deeper and deeper into it until you come to the realization that everything is related.

It’s like a domino effect. It also seems impossible to pinpoint one solution, because for change to occur, many forces have to act in synchrony. On this note, I’m a strong believer that accessible, collective education would be a great place to start.

Personally, I feel like the more I know and learn, the more convinced I am that society’s evils will not change—at least not during my lifetime. This sounds conformist and hypocritical of me because I still try to be a social activist in my own way, in my everyday life. But it is hard to picture a world that’s more equal, caring, green, tolerant, empathetic, fair and so on when large numbers of people all around the world don’t have access to higher knowledge. One could argue that people can seek to learn in their own ways, but that’s just a weak argument. Especially when you consider how according to Humanium, 72 million children in the world are not in school. Or how poverty, marginalization and inequality have paved the way for 759 million adults to be illiterate and clueless about how to improve their conditions and the conditions of their children.

Isn’t that depressing––especially when you realize that these figures only consider access to primary education? Thus, reflecting how much of a privilege higher education really is. Even though BBC news has claimed that Canada has become “an education superpower,” by having 55 per cent of adults in the workforce with degrees, this still means 45 per cent of employees don’t have one. Plus, these figures don’t even take into consideration all unemployed adults that have achieved further education.

Although this is all a bit too grim, it is a great opportunity for us students to acknowledge how privileged we are to be in a higher education institution. Because even though we might not believe so today, we can change things in the future. Who knows, maybe one of you reading this will become a person with power and high morals one day. Education and awareness are tools we must value and use wisely, especially when you consider the large numbers of people who do not have the same luck. If we work towards making education a right, we’ll have a better chance at social improvement.

Making education available would create an elevated state of collective consciousness. This would challenge the status quo and would make a better world more tangible and possible. But as long as we remain an individualist and capital-driven society, the social gap will continue to broaden. The powerful and wealthy segments of society benefit through inequality, and why wouldn’t they when it is so profitable? This mentality combined with weak morals has kept the population ignorant.

Yeah, that might sound sort of leftist of me, but it isn’t, it’s just humanitarian thinking.

Graphic by Sasha Axenova