Yesterday (or today, I’m working through three different time zones and not exactly sure what day it is today, hence the November 12-13 stamp on this blog), was my first visit to schools and meeting prospective students. It was also a chance for me to speak to officials from the Canadian High Commission in Zimbabwe and some key actors in social business/philanthropy here in Harare.
It’s no secret that one key barrier to accepting (Black) students from Zimbabwe, and arguably throughout the Black Diaspora, is the cost of tuition.
Put it this way, for an international student that is looking at studying engineering at UW, it could cost them upwards of $400,000 Canadian dollars (I’d argue this number can push up to $500,000) for the duration of their degree. How many people you know have half a million dollars to pay for their education?
University is a business.
And not sure how much people know about the economy here in Zimbabwe post independence in the 1980s, but long story short, I saw a trillion dollar bank note today. Yes, a trillion dollar bank note. At one point there was 365 million percent inflation.
Add to the fact that I was told that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe should be known as the ‘Representative Bank’ and that depositing money into the bank here is a ‘one way transaction’ even if you are a quintillionaire, you and your family most likely aren’t going to use a Zimbabwe bank to hold your money. This means you can’t prove to the Canadian government/Universities in Canada that you have the funds to come to Canada to study. And a screenshot of money in a bag won’t suffice.
Typically the answer to this is that UW should offer more scholarships to Black and African students. Yes, I agree, and that is much needed option; however, that should be part of a series of options.
I’ve met an individual here (very influential) who is a part of a group that has created a ‘made in Zimbabwe’ solution to this problem. I’ll be incorporating this work/project into a more formal write-up, but long story short, they’ve already briefed government officials and other institutions in Canada. Think of it, in a very simplistic way, as university funding mortgage brokers. All above board, all official, all mutually beneficial.
But here is the big but. Big but.
Just from speaking to some of these youths and other international students during my tenure at UW, we as Canadian institutions need to be forthcoming and honest about our extraction model of recruiting international students. This is more than a ‘Brain Drain’; it teeters on being a neo-colonial model of predatory and orientalist white saviourism. Admittedly, my livelihood relies on this model, so I’m not fool to say that I’m part of the problem.
That is all to say, we need to be honest with students and with ourselves. Maybe when a 17 year old comes to us wanting to come to UW or another 4-year degree program in Canada, we ask them what they really want. And if they say ‘I just want to leave home and get my PR status in Canada’ (which, for the record, our government actively promotes through immigration policies tied to post-secondary enrolment), we tell them, hey, save your money and work the system.
Stay home and do your first degree locally (for instance, Barbadian students can go to Cave Hill at the University of the West Indies for free). Once you graduate at 21 (and still very young - they’ve got kids going through the British system and completing at 16), come to Canada for a post-graduate degree (or another undergraduate if you feel like it). By then you’ve matured a bit, have a credential, and can come to Canada and do a much cheaper and shorter programme. You can still go through the same channels for your PR status, but now you’re not half a million dollars in the hole.
Or come, do your first credential in a college, work, get your PR status or citizenship, go back to school at the domestic rate, and do that engineering degree. You still wouldn’t be 30 and also not be knee deep in life crushing debt.
This isn’t news for people in the post-secondary game, but I think it’s our responsibility to give these young people all of their options. It’s not going to hurt our (yes, mine too) bottom line, cause hey, there are a lot of wealthy people in the Continent. A lot.
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