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On March 11, when the government cancelled the scheduled meeting of the Room 5158 in the Math and Computer Building at the University of Waterloo will be the location for a discussion on Thursday, March 25 at 7:30 p.m. on the effects of proposed reduced government funding of postâ€"secondary education: in our community, in our province, in Canâ€" ada. The meeting will be a focal point for our community‘s contribution to a nationâ€"wide ‘‘Week Of Protest" organized by the Canadian Association of University Teachers with the support of the Canadian Federation of Students. With three major advanced educational institutions in our area â€" the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University and Canestoga College â€" the effects of these cuts announced in the MacEachen budget could have a dramatic impact on the employment situation in our community Recent developments at the federal level indicate that the Trudeau government has chosen to usher in spring by slashing its transfer payments to the provinces for postâ€"secondary education support. Area students become computer literate Kendra Cupskey, a grade 10 student at Laurel Vocational school, is one of more than 2,000 students learning to become computer literate. Kendra is working on a TRS 80 microcomputer, one of four placed in the school for the students‘ use. WALTER McLEAN Standing Committee on Communications and Culture to study the secretary of state‘s departmental spending plans for postâ€"secondary education support in the coming year, I released a letter which outlined some of the questions 1 had intended to ask Minister. Gerald Regan. The minister has lately issued an ultimatum to provincial ministers of education defending his government‘s proposed cuts, in the name of what he calls ‘greater visibility for federal funds â€" more bang for our bucks .‘ His predecessbr as secretary of state, Francis Fox, testified to the Parliamentaâ€" ry Task Force on Federal Provincial Fiscal Arrangements: ... the federal government has a strong interest in the general health of the postâ€"secondary system and in wide and equitable access to that system; ... a number of trends clearly point to the basic need for a strongeéer federal role in the future.‘ (June 11, 1981) What the minister has not done is give some evidence of the government‘s comâ€" mitment to supporting our country‘s postâ€"secondary community. Postâ€"secondary funding SPECIAL REPORT Eli Boich, superintendent of schools, is just as enthusiastic as Moir. As chairman of a computer: services instructional committee, he imparted his enthusiasm to Wateriloo County board of education trustees on March 10. In a comprehensive report, the © mâ€" mittee revealed a plan for improving computer instruction in elementary and secondary schools. Boich views the 1980s as a time when society is contending with an electronic revolution, having already experienced the agricultural, printiny press and industria) revolutions. When would the principal like to see computers as an integral part of the teachingâ€"learning process? Like the automobile, he said computers are here to stay. He suggested that young aduitsâ€"will be using computers daily in the notâ€"tooâ€"distant future. Because Laurel is a school devoted to students with a learning problem, Moir said the future thrust in his school will be to make use of the computer in a remedial sense. ‘"Like yesterday. Like today. The faster we get into it the better," he said. Two teachers with an avid interest in computer technology and its application to education have v@luntarily taken it upon themseves to attend courses and seminars. They are responsible for seétting up informal seminars where they share the information they have collected with interested coâ€"workers. Moir feels strongly about familiarizing students with the computer. He said that not only do the students show a keen interest but the staff is interested as well. While some secondary schools are teaching informatics, a computer litera cy course for students in grades 10, 11 and 12, and/or a computer science program for mathematics students in grades 11 and 12, Laurel is familiarizing its students and staff with the basics and teaching interested persons how to make the computer work for them. The units are available to students before, after and in between classes, and Laurel principal Ken Moir said the units are in operation 95 per cent of the time. Kendra, a grade 10 student at Laure!) Vocational school in Waterloo, is one of 2,032 students in Waterloo County in the process of becoming computer literate. She was using one of four TRS 80 microcomputers placed in Laurel last fall. Three units are available to the students in the library and one is used for a remedial reading program. Each unit is vaiued at approximately $800. Kendra Cupskey appeared confident as she typed the instructions into the machine and then sat back to wait for a computer game to light up the screen. Mr. Regan has not yet answered my letter. There have been some further troubling developments. In a meeting with the officers of the Canadian Federation of Students in Ottawa last week, Mr. Regan announced that he intended to create a National Bursaries Program to commence next year. He intends to use the monies saved by the MacEachen cuts to transfer payments to pay for the bursaries program. Does this initiative mean that the federal government has decided to support students directly? If so, will that mean that the federal government will use this funding mechanism to influence students‘ choice of courses? How farâ€"reaching is this new scheme? Will it, for example, mean that the federal government will insist on setting the One of the questions 1 asked Mr. Regan in my letter is why he has changed Mr. Fox‘s strong philosophical commitment into increased recognition for federal monies. But this raises some very important concerns â€" ones which the minister did not answer for the students. Story and Photo by Terry James wWATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY MARCH 24 1982 PAGE "If we don‘t have them (computers and software) in our school system, then the poorer kids will suffer because the rich ones will have them at home anyway," he said. The number of students taking comâ€" er related courses wili jump by 59 per « at in the 1982â€"83 school year. ‘‘This gives us a tremendous view of what young people are saying to us,"" said Boich. Boich suggested that with the advent of computer technology, society is facing a new form of illiteracy if young people are not prepared. **Young people know where the needs are. They don‘t choose where it‘s not happening. There is a need. They want it and we will try to provide it." After some discussion the board apâ€" proved the committee‘s recommendaâ€" tions. To ensure the board keeps up with computer technology, the instructional computer committee recommended that a committee be formed to replace the existing one, that area computer comâ€" mittees be formed, that a comprehensive plan and timeline for the use of comâ€" puters in education be established, and that an instructional computer c®ordinaâ€" tor be appointed. ‘"The board should be commended for taking the risks it‘s taken," he said. *‘*When the board moved into it a couple of years ago it was not so easy." Boich said the board was unique when it established a computer system at Cameron Heights collegiate in the 1960s. In relation to what other school boards in the province are doing in the area of computer instruction, Boich said the Waterloo County board has surpassed many in terms of available equipment and course material. However, he said the board has a long way to go yet. Several Canadian computer firms have been commissioned to design a suitable machine. The cost of putting these machines into the schools will be shared, with the ministry paying 72 per cent and school boards picking up the remaining 28 per cent. Quality software, or programming, is difficult to attain. Boich said that while there is a good deal of software available, there is not enough of it being developed that relates specifically to educational needs. Due to outdated ministry curriculum guidelines, the local board has had to develop its own guidelines for computer related courses. Boich suggests that, this being the case, "education had better be with it."‘ In October 1981 the Ministry of Educaâ€" tion announced that computer instruction will be a top priority in the 1980s and After all, postâ€"secondary education is supported by our tax dollars, whether it is doled out by the federal or the provincial governments. The ‘visibility is ours The investment is in Canada‘s future. The Canadian Association of University Teachers has already suggested a Awoâ€" yearmextension of existing arrangements to allow for calm study of all options and then responsible negotiations. The present agreements are due to expire March 31, The role of support for postâ€"secondary education is far too important to Canada‘s future to be decided in that tight time frame and in this mood of confrontation. I hope this local meeting â€" and this ‘"weekâ€"ofâ€"protest" â€" will signal to the federal government that Canadian teachâ€" ers and students are demanding a say in their future. This week‘s meeting â€" sponsored jointly by the two universitiés â€" will provide an opportunity to discuss some way of ending the present confrontation between the federal government and the provinces. tuition schedules within the respective provinces?