Earlier, we reported a fine arts student who works as a receptionist at a luxury spa near the legislature has been appointed to the board of the private career training institutions agency. This, as part of a government commitment to enhance quality and strengthen accountability at British Columbia's private-post-secondary institutions. Asked for comment on that appointment, Federation of Post Secondary Educators president Cindy Oliver stated, "The minister really needs to take this situation seriously. I mean, we have heard over the past couple years that there have been too many (private-post-secondary) students ripped-off."
"We see students unable to have their transcript actually mean anything in the grand scheme of things and being out all of that money - because we all know private colleges cost a lot of money. We have been advocating for the government to re-establish the private trainers oversight group and get people on that board who understand education and who understand what it takes to have a legitimate offering of programs so students won't be ripped-off. So I would hope the minister would think very carefully about who he appoints."
"We certainly agree there should be students on the board," she continued. "But with respect to this person - because I don't know all of her background - I would just hope the minister has given this a great deal of thought and that he could take it seriously enough to appoint people who have a pretty strong background in solid pedagogy."
Perhaps the FA student has other qualifications, such as a membership in the Liberal Party?