Students working more outside of school

Andrew de Souza
paNOW staff

More and more students across the country are working to fund their education and in Prince Albert, the increasing workload can hurt study habits.

A recent report from Statistics Canada shows about 45 per cent of students work while attending a post-secondary institution — almost double the amount of students working in the 1970s.

While more work means more money in student’s pockets, it means less time hitting the books, said SIAST Woodland campus student association president Jeanette Murphy.

“In a lot of programs you end up having a lot of homework and assignments and you need to prep for your classes, so you know what’s going on,” Murphy said.

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“(Work) is taking vital time away from preparation for class and affecting their education as a whole.”

Murphy said students need to work more to attend school nowadays because of increased financial burden from a high cost of living and tuition that rises faster than inflation.

“We see a lot of students coming into our offices who are not only worried about paying for school, but their worried about putting healthy food on the table for their families, being able to get to school, being able to get the supplies they need in order to be successful,” she said.

“If they’re not being funded by somebody or they’re not getting a loan, then they have to pay all of that out of pocket.”

SUBHEAD: Added Pressure

Not only are students having to work more, Statistics Canada also showed that the recent global recession meant less work for students during the summer, which is normally when students earn most of their money.

Murphy said it means those students now find themselves working at least one part-time job, since they weren’t able to save up enough money during the summer.

“Most students found work, but it was minimum-paying jobs,” she said.

“It’s really hard to pay for school on minimum pay, so a lot of students had to find jobs during the school year so they could pay for school and a living allowance and be successful in their program.”

Murphy said the student association helps students to find jobs on campus but that there aren’t nearly enough to go around.

adesouza@rawlco.com