Critics knock McGuinty's money motive

Premier Dalton McGuinty sees international students as the lynchpin for Ontario's economic recovery, but students and administrators beg to differ.As part of his Throne Speech on Mar. 8, McGuinty pledged to boost Ontario's economic recovery by opening the door wide to the global postsecondary education industry. This plan aims to increase the enrollment of international students in the province by 50% over the next five years.

At UofT, McGuinty's focus on the financial return has triggered criticism from students and administrators alike. Fourth year student Arturo Martinez Peguero, who is originally from Mexico, is uneasy with the characterization of international students as gears in the economic machine. "I feel almost objectified and somewhat glad that I'm about to finish. I'm not sure I want to be a part of this," explains Peguero, who is completing his degree in Computer Science and Psychology.

For Ben Yang, Director of UofT's International Student Centre, the Premier's plan is in many ways a step forward. "Overall, I think certainly that more internationals coming to Canada is a positive thing. There's no question about it, because international students make so much contribution to our community."

But Yang is equally wary of the Premier's emphasis on the bottom line. "This is about education as a commodity that can be bought and can be sold."

Currently, Ontario's international student population hovers around 37,000 students, who spend an estimated $1 billion per year on living essentials such as groceries and housing. In Canada, international students generate more than $6.5 billion towards the national economy.

However, blogger Joey Coleman warns that Ontario is entering an extremely competitive market, and will need to invest millions of dollars in student recruitment strategies overseas to achieve its goal. "Sadly Ontario is following the pack and chasing the pocketbooks of international students - not their brains," argues Coleman, who blogs about the McGuinty government's post-secondary policies for the Globe and Mail's globecampus.ca

Although the Premier has pegged post-secondary education as an export industry, Coleman notes that in the future, "the cost of recruitment per-student will skyrocket and the financial return per-international student will likely decline."

For Yang, the underlying problem with McGuinty's plan has more to do with a lack of emphasis on institutional support for the prospective influx of new students.

"It's not enough to get warm bodies to fill our spaces and charge them high fees. We need to have appropriate support and services to make that experience meaningful, beneficial and rewarding."

At UofT, international students number more than 8,600, a figure that has doubled in the last six years alone. However, as Yang points out, the growth in services for international students - including academic support, counseling on Canadian culture and society, and language training - have failed to keep pace.

"Did my resources get doubled in the last six years? No." he confirmed.

Peguero agrees, adding that "little has been done in the last few years to integrate international students' issues and voices into how the university runs." Given the rising tuitions costs for those coming from overseas - international tuition fees are often four times higher than domestic ones - he laments the lack of attention allocated to the particular needs of the university's international population.

"It doesn't seem like even a little bit of our money is being invested back in us," says Peguero. He warns that if this disregard by university administration persists, UofT and other large universities in the province risk losing their appeal for foreign students such as himself.

"If on top of a sluggish adaptation to international needs you want to just throw more people into the already hyper-impersonal lectures, that really makes UofT a very unattractive option."

As Yang sees it, in order to make a success of the proposed increase in international students, both the McGuinty government and academic institutions such as UofT must set their sights beyond the all-mighty dollar.

"Yes, we want to have a business but let's have a good business, let's have a sustainable business, have a business that really has value so the student - the purchaser - can really see the benefit.