Premier Doug Ford had choice words for students expressing concerns over recent cuts to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) Tuesday, telling them to "not pick basket-weaving courses" and to invest in education that gives people in-demand jobs.

Speaking to reporters at Queen's Park, Ford said he received "thousands of calls" from students over the long weekend, who expressed concerns about the province cutting the amount of grant money students can receive through OSAP.

“I mentioned to the students, you have to invest in your future, into in-demand jobs,” he said.

“You’re picking basket-weaving courses, and there’s not too many baskets being sold out there.”

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[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 0 points 1 month ago (9 children)

Probably not put super well but the basic idea is fairly reasonable. I graduated with folks who majored in stuff they really enjoyed (critical lit, history, philosophy) and then had a rude awakening when it turned there weren't many businesses with a burning need for someone who could explain the significance of the battle of Hastings.

From the other side, I have a buddy who teaches a film course. According to him, if he assigns a movie as homework, only a quarter of the students will actually watch it. So he started failing kids. Well, the institution did not like that so now he legitimately shows movies in class for a huge chunk of his class time. I love movies and film fests but I feel less than ideal about subsidising a course on them and feel downright annoyed to subsidize kids sitting and watching fucking movies in class time.

Like I say, I don't hate Ford's basic thrust here.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Ford would be a better person with a liberal arts degree. His whole life has been a closed bubble of corruption and Nepotism from his father, and he literally knows nothing. I doubt he has ever read a book.

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[–] austinfloyd@ttrpg.network 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You seem to be arguing for choosing a major with some job prospect, but Ford seems to be arguing for not taking any courses that aren't directly beneficial to some economic purpose.

I disagree with Ford's stance at least. As an old tech person, my non-tech uni courses were most beneficial to my overall capabilities in my tech job, at least in the long run. Creative writing, ethics, history, and tort law were things I took because they were interesting (to me at least). None of these had much relevance to tech as far as I could see, but I've been much better off for them.

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[–] FireRetardant@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'm no fan of ford but i don't mind OSAP being prioritized for genuine in demand nation building career opportunities. Programs to get people into electrical engineering or other careers that will support our future could be beneficial. I doubt thats actually how this will all go down but as a concept prioritizing certain degrees over others with public funding isn't the worst thing, especially if it can help build a stronger economy to open funding for more variety of programs later down the line.

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[–] maplesaga@lemmy.world -2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (6 children)

I'd say hes right, a useless degree should be discouraged, you're not helping these kids by playing make believe.

Smart financially literate people tell their kids to get vocational degrees.

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