For the 52 -year -old student, Heather Kennedy, obtaining an education through the school program of the city of Mohawk College was providing hope to bring more money to help her family.
Kennedy hoped to become an administrator after taking free courses through the program. With his next closure, announced along with other cuts in the university, he is concerned that he cannot achieve that goal.
“I think it’s a shame,” Kennedy said.
City School is a free service that offers post -secondary and employment work courses to the adults of the community and has been administered by Mohawk College in Hamilton.
In December, as part of the cuts due to the new limits for international students and the lack of provincial funds, the University announced that the city school would be accumulating its operations and would stop offering courses as of March 31. The delivery locations closed on February 10.
Kennedy was among a group of people who met on February 19 outside Mohawk to protest the cuts to universities and advocate the city school.
She said she learned about the program in 2024 while looking at flyers in a food bank. She registered and began a course called College 101. She is currently taking two courses with the hope of working for a non -profit organization.
Kennedy said he requested the courses because he wants to “improve [her] Life “and learn new things. He added that the courses have helped her a lot.
“I am trying to get an advantage to earn more money and help my family. It helped me learn many skills. So I’m happy for that,” he said.
Kennedy works as a caregiver, but said at a time when prices continue to go up and life is becoming “more and more difficult”, he wants to contribute more to his family’s finances.
Petition asks the university to ‘reconsider’ the closure
Kennedy is not alone in his disappointment with the closure.
The program members began a petition, which has obtained more than 300 signatures from community members and 30 community members.
Erin Carr, executive director of the Solidarity Place Workers Education Center, one of the non -profit organizations that was associated with the city school, said the petition began at the end of January after the conversations with the union.
“The city school was on the floor, a popular, free and accessible education, which is something in our province that we lack a lot,” he said.
There were 415 students enrolled in the city school last year, according to Sarah Harvie, vice president of the OPSEU Local 241, which represents support staff at Mohawk College.
According to a spokesman for Mohawk College, there were 13 employees used in the city school and 8 to 10 part -time instructors per semester. Harvie said only three or four left, probably due to their connection with other programs at the university.
More than a dozen Mohawk programs were suspended in December and for February, 255 full -time jobs were lost.
One of the impacted was Sarah Bradshaw, training specialist at Mohawk College and part -time instructor at City School. She said the program is different from other community education programs “because it acts as the link between the community and the university.”
City School offered university courses in spaces such as the Eva Rothwell Center, the Hamilton Public Library and Mission Services.
It began with an investment of $ 50,000 almost 10 years ago, and although Mohawk College cites a budget need of $ 1 million, City School could “comfortably” operate with $ 300,000, he said.
Harvie said that with the request, the community is asking the program not to close completely.
“We are asking the university to reconsider, and we are asking for critical help from the province, so we are not closing the door to students who are changing their lives with the support of programs such as City School,” he said.
In an email to CBC Hamilton, Mohawk College spokesman Sean Coffey said the university discovered that the city school model “was not sustainable”, while acknowledging “that the program could help many people in the community since it began operating in 2015”.
City School was a place for ‘transformation’: instructor
Jess Robertson, program instructor, said the service is a place for “transformation.”
“The idea of closing the city school is a pain like no other because I know there are many more people who could benefit from this program, support, the opportunity to discover its potential,” he said.
Robertson taught 13 courses in City School and said the connection in the classroom was what distinguished him from others.
“There are laughs, emotion and a shared commitment to growth,” he said.
Car also teaches at the city school, said the service means a lot for students.
“[City School offers] A path to post -secondary education, there is a future employability, but is also building social relations. Our students are a very close community, “he said.
His students come from all the different areas of life, he said.
“[Some] They are in shelters at this time, people who have received a really hard hand in life, who at least expect to get out of that hole. That was something that the city school provided, “he said.
The success of City School also covered beyond Hamilton, said Harvie.
The program was associated with universities in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Halifax to share the city school model and how it could be replicated elsewhere.
“It was a fantastic association that highlighted the unique qualities of the city school as a solution made in Hamilton to meet the training and education needs of our community,” he added.
