Fraser Valley (Becky Edwards, President of the UFV Student Social Work Association) – In solidarity with the 54,000 students striking in Quebec this week, UFV’s social work students are following suit. McGill University is taking action against unpaid practicums for those who enter into fields dominated by females such as nursing, teaching, and social work. The student social work association became aware of this, and the entire department was on board.
Over the course of their undergraduate degree students can be expected to complete up to four practicums totaling an entire year’s worth of work. Essentially paying tuition to work for free. Other fields such as the trades, offer apprenticeships where the student is paid to learn, completes with certification, and full time employment. Some students have had to quit their paying jobs in order to commit to the practicum components of their education, leaving them unemployed once the practicum semester is finished.
Upon graduation social workers will be front line in the battle for affordable housing, managing the opioid crisis, advocating for the homeless and impoverished, caring for the elderly, providing programs to youth, and working towards social justice in a variety of other areas. Social work offers resources to promote equity and justice for all, yet many graduates will be inundated with student loan debt and unemployed. Social work professionals invest in the issues that are front page news day in and day out, and they demand to be recognized for that investment.
Becky Edwards
President of the UFV Student Social Work Association
Video/Photo Courtesy The Cascade
