Education is important and every government should make efforts to ensure that its citizens access education. Although education is expensive, scholars and researchers still believe that education is key to success. Therefore, making education accessible to all is the first step towards development and social change.
In Canada, people in the lower class face many issues and for some, attaining tertiary education is a big challenge. However, to ensure that needy students in Ontario access the college education, the Federal government of Ontario has been working together with the Central government of Canada to facilitate loans for such students. This paper will discuss extensively the OSAP tuition assistance program and funding of post-secondary education in Ontario, Canada.
Conclusion
The Canadian government has shown commitments to make certain that education is accessible to all citizens. To ensure that needy students realize their dreams, attain education, and achieve their career goals, the government of Ontario, through the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) has been instrumental in funding post-secondary education.
Although funding of this program has been a challenge, the Federal government of Ontario has jointed efforts with the Central government of Canada to ensure that all needy students access tertiary education. Various departments have been proactive to ensure success of this project.
The Federal government and Department of Human resource and Social development have been administering the OSAP program while the Ministry of Training in conjunction with tertiary institutions is responsible for fair administration of the program hence promoting transparency.
Because of commitment by various stakeholders, the implementation of the OSAP program has been very successful. As a result, needy students in Ontario are now able to attain their education and career goals. Since students are required to pay this loan after they have successfully completed their college education, it has been a big challenge for most of them because the current repayment program requires graduates to pay a certain fixed amount of money every month.
Since most young graduates do not get well paying jobs, there is a need to make amendments to the current repayment program. The best alternative is fixing the repayment schedule based on income level of an individual, which will enable graduate students to pay the education loan with ease. With such amendments, the OSAP program will continue to help needy students and families achieve their education and career goals.