Unlocking Alberta’s Potential:
Social Policy Framework
July 26, 2012
Recognizing education as a solution to many of our social issues is essential to any Social Policy Framework. The benefits of education, especially post-secondary, are well documented, spanning from improved income and health, to increased participation in the community. Although Alberta’s post-secondary institutions are world leaders, too often access to our own system is blocked to those from the lowest income brackets.
We are suggesting three approaches of integrating post-secondary education into Alberta’s Social Policy Framework: improving the opportunities of under-represented groups in our post-secondary education to attend; improving the opportunities of students already in our system to succeed and complete their programs; and increase the opportunities of those who graduate from our post-secondary system to lead their communities and give back to their society. All of which speak to the theme of harnessing the full potential of our province by increasing our post-secondary participation rate, at present the lowest in Canada.