The Canadian Pre-University Program where I work shares a building with two other educational programs: the Cambridge A-Level Program and the South Australian Matriculation Program. Both CAL and SAM are twice as large as our program. They are both well supported by the universities in the countries that promote them and well advertised in this growing Asian education market. Foreign language students studying in Australian universities are that country’s third largest industry.
By contrast, the Canadian program is not well-known, either in Asian, or back home in Canada. In fact the Canadian government just this month cut off funding for the small office that advises Asian students on the Canadian option. In addition, this program is expensive. In order to be licensed by the Ontario government, the school must employ Canadian teachers, which requires a salary that is high enough to recruit Canadian staff. Understandably, with a smaller per student profit margin, it doesn’t pay Taylor’s College to promote this program, despite its clear pedagogical superiority.
The CAL and SAM programs have continued to expand at this program’s expense, and in order to make room for all their new students, the Canadian program is being asked to leave. In two weeks. Yesterday we got a tour of the office building they are moving us to. It is enough to make one weep. The previous tenants have only just moved out, and the place is a disaster. Taylor’s has promised to renovate, but have set themselves no deadline for those renovations. When we were there we saw two painters working without much effort covering up the yellow stains on one wall. At the rate they were moving the renovations should be finished in a mere forty years.
I know that change is inevitable, and heaven knows I have been through enough of them in my lifetime to get used to it. I know that change can sometimes bring renewal; but I also know that change is not always for the better. From what I saw yesterday, this is one change that I could do without.
The upside on this (and there is always an upside) is that I don’t work for Taylor’s College, anymore than I ever worked for Thames Valley District School Board, or before them Elgin County Board of Education. Since He got hold of my life some 35 years ago, I have worked for the Lord. It is He that sent me to Malaysia, and it is He that will send me home when He is done with me here. As for the circumstances of my employment, well that is for Him to decide. He knows my frame. He will at times test me and try me in order to purify my motives and keep me in line, but He will never allow me to be overwhelmed, and if this change proves to be an impossible situation, then that will be His way of telling me it is time to move on.
Home Thoughts From Abroad 
March 6, 2010 at 4:24 pm
Hi Steve,
Sorry to read your disheartening news about your work place…hope all works out for you.
March 7, 2010 at 1:41 am
what a surprise,
never thought about this.
I miss ICPU even though that programme makes me cry a lot. But I believe the tough things make us tougher.
March 8, 2010 at 12:59 am
Thanks Sandra. I will adapt, I am sure, but I do worry about our Malaysian colleagues. At this site they have their compatriots and friends in the other programs to socialize with. At the new site they will be a small raft of Asians in a sea of Caucasians, who can often rub their finer sensitivities the wrong way, even with the best of intentions. At worst we can seem to them downright rude and thoughtless.
March 8, 2010 at 1:01 am
Syafiqah, thanks for dropping by and posting a comment. You were always such a happy little spirit in class, it grieves me to think that our program made you cry.
March 12, 2010 at 4:19 pm
Steve, this is the first I’ve replied to your blog, but I wanted to express how frustrated, disappointed and irritated I am with the Ontario Ministry of Education. They are missing the boat on international education. Instead of pursuing this avenue, they are clawing back and being restrictive. If only they would look at how Australia and the U.K. promote their education systems.
There is so much potential for Ontario’s model of education on the international stage but the Ministry of Education just lacks long term vision. Can you imagine if the provincial government made even a small effort to study the feasibility and the spin off that could result from the Ontario Education at an international level? I believe they might be able to resolve some of the problems facing Ontario.
Ask yourself, what are some of the problems facing the the provincial education system at large?
1) An oversupply of OCT graduates:
Teacher candidates are unable to develop their skills and advance themselves in their chosen career. If they are fortunate enough, they will serve as supply teachers for a couple of years before they earn a full time position. Not a very positive or sustainable option.
2) Decreased enrollment:
This is self evident and reflective of the demographics.
3) Limited finanical resources to meet budget demands –
The amount of money that is transfered to each Board is constraining forcing them to make difficult decisions which ultimately lead to deprived educational environments.
Now, how could these issues begin to be resolved?
1) If a model were in place to offer teachers the oppportunity to teach at one of the many “international Ontario” schools, the result would be that the province would have experienced teachers whose education would not have gone to waste. In addition, they would be more globally-minded and understanding of diversity, something that our country is supposed to be reflect. Can you imagine if the Government had in place plans that encouraged teachers to pursue this route such as some sort of pension plan that compensated for lower salaries that would have to account for the standard of living in that particular satellite school?
2)A well planned model could be in place such that “international Ontario” schools – Grades 9 to 12, not just grade 12 – would send a portion of their students to Ontario to complete their O.S.S.D. in grade 11 or grade 12.
3)International students in the public school system would be subject to tuition fees, not unlike what they are already paying. These tuition fees could supplement budgets that badly need an infusion of funds to finance operating costs.
You know Steve, the irony is that the throne speech at Queen’s Park is indicating that one of their plans is to raise revenue through international students. Too bad that don’t have a plan in place to sustain this objective.
March 12, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Mark, you have some very thoughtful suggestions here on how to deal with problems that others see as intractable. Write to The Toronto Star, write to the Globe, get those ideas out there. It is the kind of forward thinking that we need for a global economy.
On a more personal note my friend, I miss your awesome dedication to this profession around here. You were an excellent representative of Canadian teaching values and your leaving has left a huge hole in this program. I wish you all the best back in Canada.