By Don Tapscott. It’s wrong for governments to shift funding to more practical trades or technical colleges, away from universities. We need both.
A dangerous and growing urban myth in Canada is that university students enrolled in liberal arts and science programs are acquiring skills employers don’t need. This is bogus. More...

By Kathryn Blaze Carlson and Gloria Galloway. First Nations leaders are moving to reject the Conservatives' on-reserve education bill and open new talks with the government, pressing ahead with a vision that challenges the powers of the leaderless Assembly of First Nations executive and confronts Ottawa anew. A rare meeting of the AFN Confederacy of Nations – the first such population-based gathering of First Nations leaders in a decade – passed a resolution on Wednesday that rejects the First Nations Control of First Nations Education Act and calls for a Confederacy committee to enter into discussions with the federal Aboriginal Affairs Minister on an education “accord.” More...

By Sarah Newcomb. The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) recently announced plans to nix their Bachelor of Education program in favour of expanded Master of Teaching and Master of Arts in Child Study and Education degrees.
Beginning in 2015, incoming education students will be able to “undertake advanced study in the educational sciences and at the same time meet the requirements for licensure to teach in Ontario”, essentially graduating from OISE with both a teaching and a master’s degree. More...

By Davene Jeffrey. It’s no surprise that the number of degrees granted by Nova Scotia universities is on the rise, thanks to an influx of international students, says a Cape Breton University vice-president.
The Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission announced Monday that universities in the region granted over 15,000 degrees, diplomas and certificates in 2012, stopping a downward trend. The report said the number of credentials granted had been decreasing from a peak achieved five years ago. More...

By Alex Rosenthal. For the first time since the recession, Florida universities will potentially see an increase in state funding this upcoming year, a year many are calling a victory for education.
“It was probably one of, if not the best year ever, for the university system,” Mark Walsh, USF Assistant Vice President for Government Relations, said. More...

By Barrie McKenna. Canada has a serious data deficit. And the dearth of facts threatens to cause a host of policy mistakes, affecting everything from who gets unemployment benefits, to where governments spend their limited training dollars and whether employers can import foreign workers. More...