The third edition of Inspiring Women Among Us kicked off today(Thursday) at UNBC.
The Minister of Advanced Education, Melanie Mark, took to the podium to talk about her experience growing up in poverty and the trauma she faced during her life.
She briefly touched on how she moved from school to school, was raised by a single mother and how her grandparents grew up in residential schools.
Mark thinks this is what gives her an advantage in the role she’s in now to help those who are experiencing the same thing.
“I’m able to create public policy that is going to advance their opportunities instead of stand in the way. So I really have an understanding for poverty or circumstances that some students are facing when they talk about being a minority group or an equity seeking group what those challenges are.”
She focused on the importance of post-secondary education and how she’s been working to reduce the cost, so it can become more affordable for everyone.
.@melaniejmark opens the floor for Q & A at Inspiring Women Among Us ceremony @UNBC pic.twitter.com/4SEXIjEmHJ
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) November 16, 2017
“Combined housing, tuition and the other cost of living that’s what makes it out of reach because you start to say can I afford tuition and rent. So we’re trying to address the whole ecosystem to support the whole students success.”
Mark added there’s a lot more the government needs to do.
One of them is to look at more investment into graduate scholarship programs, as BC is eighth in the country when it comes to scholarship support for grads.