Finally something to talk about again!

Finally some good news. Hubby's school made a mistake about the amount for the college tuition. It actually was NOT meant to be applied to the 2nd years so they are going to fix it so that now its only $100 owed...not $500. I was so relieved when I heard. It took a great deal of stress off our minds and gives us back some hope of not falling too far behind. I just feel bad for the new first years, they are about to get hit with a rather hefty hike in their tuition fees, something I know most can little afford. A lot of students already access food banks to try to keep eating but its getting worse every year, at what point do they say enough and fight back like the kids in Quebec tried to do?

I think it is sad that a large number of people look at a college education like it is a privilege. They are wrong, its a right, and in this day and age a NECESSITY. A lot of times if you are not in high school you REQUIRE a college diploma now in order to flip hamburgers. I feel so woefully under trained for such an environment. The competition for the few jobs we have is fierce and has led to these changes. I can't even work at a restaurant without Safe Food Handling, a bar without Smart Serve or a hotel without WHIMIS. It is very disheartening to think that these were jobs I have done before (cleaning and working in a restaurant) and I didn't need specialized certificates before, but suddenly now it's a necessity in order to have an advantage over other applicants.

On another note my daughter graduated from the ACE program today. A's and B's. I'm so proud of her accomplishments. Now all she needs to do is wait for the actual college program to accept her and then she's on her way. One of my sons needs to upgrade math, the result of having went to the WRONG high school for too many years. It was also why my daughter had to go to ACE upgrading. I'm still proud of all my kids for the hard work they have put in to their studies. (Changing schools to a more challenging one helped). I for one am proud of them every single day. They are doing very well and I know they can be whatever they want to.

One more pet peeve before I'm finished for now...we have a test here in our province to see if kids are literate before they can graduate from high school. The problem with this test is, it seems to prove everyone is NOT literate. The testing is not set to the level of courses these kids take, it is a test done at a much higher level meaning if you are not taught at the College or University level, you will very likely fail the test. My kids are all literate, they can all read and write quite well, but they didn't pass the test. Worse yet they failed to pass by as little as ONE mark. I'd love to try this test myself someday and see how well I'd pass it, better yet, get these politicians that created it to take it, I'll bet they couldn't pass their own tests. If you test a "workplace English" trained child with college and university level questions....it is going to be hard for them to pass, they haven't been taught the same skill sets for writing in particular.

 Either they should forget about this testing OR if they need it that badly, they should divide the test into 3 tests based on the English level of the student that is writing it. That way we know that the lower level students are able to read and write and get by in the world...and that college and university level kids are going to have no problem with those classes when they get to their respective schools. All kids deserve to be tested on their level, not made to feel badly because they don't meet a level they were never prepared for in the first place.