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Ottawa (09 Dec.. 2021) — Students training to become personal support workers (PSWs) at a private college in Ottawa are facing unexpected costs that will make it hard for them to complete their program, according to an article in the Ottawa Citizen. The students say that they were given the impression that the 310-hour work placement would be paid, but are now finding that it won’t be.
This is not just a problem for students who are now struggling to figure out how they will be able to complete their program. With the impact the shortage of PSWs has had, it’s a problem for anyone in Ontario who cares about how we look after people in long-term care facilities. And problems like this one raise the question of why, when the provincial government announced additional funding for training PSWs, the training wasn’t delivered by Ontario’s public colleges.
Auditor general poor oversight of private colleges and students being overcharged
The complaints reported by students at Willis Business College reflect concerns that others have raised about private colleges. In her report last week, the Auditor General of Ontario, found that the lack of oversight of private colleges meant that the training they provide may be “inadequate.”
Among the problems were that 33% of colleges her office surveyed were overcharging students. The Auditor General also reported that the Ministry of Colleges and Universities isn’t checking to ensure private colleges are delivering the programs they committed to providing.
Long history of problems with for-profit companies running colleges
There is a long history of problems with for-profit private colleges. These problems have ranged from students being unable to complete their programs after private colleges went bankrupt, to selling fake diplomas, to complaints from international students that they were enrolled with false promises.
OPSEU warnings should have been heeded
When the provincial government first announced that, instead of using public colleges to train additional PSWs, it would pump public money into private for-profit colleges, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) warned of the potential for problems. As OPSEU members pointed out, while every dollar of funding that goes to public colleges is spent on education, when public money is given to private colleges, a portion of it is siphoned off for profit.
That affects the quality of education students receive and it makes it more likely that what students get won’t be what they were promised.