If you find yourself scrambling for enough time to attend classes, participate in extracurriculars, try doing it with a baby.
The AMS after-hours child care service was cancelled in July 2005 due to a lack of demand. At that time, a study of the service showed that no more then 17-20 families used the service. With no care available after 5 p.m., undergraduate and graduate students, as well as some of Queen’s faculty, may be having difficulty finding appropriate child care.
The Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS) is currently conducting an online survey to gain a better understanding of the number of people in the Queen’s community who would benefit from reinstating affordable, after-hours child care. Although the previous service was funded mostly by the AMS, Only 33 per cent of its s were undergraduate students.
The child care service may not be profitable, but the AMS has a long history of funding money-losing businesses—The AMS Pub Services budgeted a deficit of $64,000 this year. By this logic, maintaining an essential service such as child care, regardless of the number of students using it, should be a no-brainer.
That said, undergraduate students’ money shouldn’t be the only source of funding for a service also used by graduate students and faculty. If this service is to be re-established, the university should be responsible for the overhead costs, with the balance split proportionally between the SGPS and the AMS, depending on the ratio of the number of their that use the service.
Child care shouldn’t be treated as a money making opportunity. The University has a responsibility to take care of student parents as it would any other minority group needing extra assistance. But if the AMS is to get back on board, external funding needs to be guaranteed: the University needs to step up and take some responsibility.
It’s important to offer these services to ensure that education is accessible to everyone. As well, providing child care may encourage those who have left school to raise children to return. Child care services are a valuable resource to of the community and their necessity cannot be underestimated or ignored by the University and the societies who represent the students who use them. Raising a child can be a very expensive and challenging experience, especially for students, and it’s essential that services are provided to make this process easier for parents wishing to further their education.
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