Open The Gates of Education Freedom: How to Make University Higher Quality and More Affordable
Come along on a journey with me through the past, present and future of education. As I talk about how we got here, where we are now, and my ideas for how we can create a better future for students, parents and educators.
1. Read the full article here: https://atila.ca/blog/tomiwa/open-the-gates [https://atila.ca/blog/tomiwa/open-the-gates]
2. Watch the video on Youtube
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov-2Q-Mom4A]
3. View the slides
[https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/181gEwen0gINSSAqdU8PvjuWkKy5WQeKbK3wS18Pxo-4/edit#slide=id.p3]
4. Visit the website: educationfreedomprogram.org
[https://educationfreedomprogram.org/]
5. Listen to the essay/video as a podcast while multitasking on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/0m74ZmCPgjvp5WGOMg3P9C] or Itunes
[https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/id1440531021]
Timestamps
The key parts are: The Idea (9:50) and What you can do (23:50)
A brief history of universities – 1:40
What do universities do now? – 5:00
A solution to improve the education system – 7:40
The idea, Education Freedom Program – 9:50 (watch this part!)
Made up reasons why it won’t work – 20:00
What you can do - 23:50 (watch this part!)
Introduction
On January 29, 2020, I was in my final year of university. I had just received my first ever employment offer as a software engineer at a biotech company. In just three months, I would have graduated from university and be entering the next chapter of my life. So I did what any responsible “aspiring adult" would do: I put together a budget.
I created a Google Sheet called “Personal Finance Adulting Budget 2020” to help me figure out how I was going to pay for the next chapter of my life. I had everything in there, my starting salary, how much my taxes would be, my rent for my apartment, monthly gym membership, transit pass etc.
Me: “Okay, So I know how much money is coming and going out each month. how much money do I actually have right now”.
So I logged into my online banking account, clicked my banking details, opened my bank statement and saw a number that shocked me: $65,000.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to be jealous, that’s not how much money I had. That’s how much debt I had in my student loans. Okay, maybe you’re thinking: “Tomiwa it’s not all about you”. Okay, you’re right: it’s not about me. Take me out of it. The average student with loans has $28,000 in student loans [https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3710003601]. How did we create a society where a young person is about to enter adulthood and instead of at the very least, starting the game of life at $0, we’re starting $28,000 behind the starting line. A society where despite being the most educated generation, for the first time in modern history, there’s only a 50% chance that we’ll earn more than our parents (Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality [https://inequality.stanford.edu/news-events/center-news/fading-american-dream],Politifact [https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2017/oct/27/delaine-eastin/do-millennials-have-only-50-50-chance-doing-better/]) .
Come along on a journey with me through the past, present and future of education. As I talk about how we got here, where we are now, and my ideas for how we can create a better future for students, parents and educators.
