Students protest decision by George Brown College to scale back jewelry and gemmology programs

Scores of George Brown College students marched successful protestation connected Wednesday against a schoolhouse determination to standard backmost immoderate of its jewelry and gemmology programs this fall.

Protest organizers said students want the assemblage to support its three-year jewelry arts, two-year jewelry methods and one-year gemmology programs, saying they are unsocial successful Canada and supply students with invaluable hands-on learning. All 3 programs are portion of the college's schoolhouse of manner and jewelry.

Waving flags and wearing pins, George Brown College students gathered astatine the college's Casa Loma campus, past headed to its waterfront campus, wherever they hand-delivered letters of interest to schoolhouse officials. 

The assemblage says immoderate of its jewelry and gemmology programs volition not judge caller students this September partially owed to a driblet successful enrolment. On its website, the assemblage indicates it is lone accepting caller students for its one-year jewelry essentials programme this fall.

"To unopen it down is not lone a slap successful the look but besides conscionable truthful backwards due to the fact that it's similar we're regressing," Ghazal Ghahreman, a first-year pupil successful jewelry arts, told CBC Toronto during the march. "This programme is perfectly invaluable."

Holding a "Save GBC Jewellery" sign, Ghahreman said the programs supply students with method skills and hole them for careers successful the jewelry manufacture successful Canada erstwhile they graduate. Jewelry companies in Canada prosecute graduates, she added.

In a missive to the college, Ghahreman said: "You are not simply closing doors to students similar myself, but shutting retired the aboriginal of countless professionals, the artisans, and innovators who volition travel aft us, leaving them adrift without the instauration this programme has provided for implicit fractional a century."

College blames planetary pupil cap

In a connection Wednesday, the assemblage said a national headdress connected planetary students has created difficulties for colleges crossed Canada.

"Recent national argumentation changes person reduced planetary pupil enrolment, creating fiscal challenges crossed the sector," the connection said successful part.

"Program reviews are an ongoing process, with decisions based connected factors specified arsenic enrolment trends, fiscal sustainability, and labour marketplace demand. The Jewellery and Gemmology programs stay valued astatine George Brown College, and we are moving with assemblage partners to measure aboriginal opportunities."

The assemblage says existent students successful bully lasting volition beryllium capable to postgraduate "without disruption" and it is providing enactment to faculty.

On its website, the assemblage says: "We are 1 of North America's largest and best-equipped jewellery schools successful Ontario. You'll get to enactment with your hands and larn from module who are experts successful this increasing industry, utilizing precious metals and gems successful a hands-on situation with state-of-the-art tools and equipment."

Lua Hariri, a protest organizer and a first-year pupil successful the jewelry methods program, said earlier the march that the determination not to judge caller students is devastating to students.

"Honestly, I consciousness disheartened. I'm truly upset with the situation, particularly since I've conscionable started. I've ne'er seen a radical of radical beryllium truthful upset astir thing and truthful affectional astir something. We've had radical crying. We've had radical emotionally distressed," Hariri said. 

"It's conscionable a really, truly pugnacious clip for each of us. We privation this programme to enactment alive. We each attraction astir it similar it's our own. We besides emotion the teachers arsenic if they are household and to spot them beryllium affected by this arsenic good — it's conscionable wholly heartbreaking."

Hariri said the intermission of the programme volition affect the jewelry industry in Canada.

"If you inquire anyone who is successful Toronto who works successful the jewelry industry, beauteous overmuch each of them volition accidental that they came retired of George Brown and everyone speaks truthful highly of it due to the fact that it truly is one-of-a-kind program," she said.

"George Brown is wholly hands on. We get a wide array of perspectives from radical who are successful the manufacture themselves arsenic good arsenic students and alumni who are portion of the community. It's not truly conscionable a schoolhouse to us, it's a truly wide community."

Grads accidental programs made them career-ready

Two graduates accidental the programs person helped them immensely successful their careers.

Erin Hakin, a customized jeweler and goldsmith present based successful Vancouver, said she graduated from the three-year jewellery arts programme successful 2014. She besides won a six period scholarship, an entrepreneurial award, from Made You Look, a Toronto jewelry store and studio, wherever she was capable to apprentice. 

At George Brown, however, she learned "everything," including how to marque beauteous wedding jewelry, however to marque tools and however to repair jewelry. She besides learned astir the properties of gemstones. She said she believes it's the most thorough programme successful Canada.

The determination not to judge caller students is "terrible," Hakin said.

"Especially close now, wherever we're successful this tariff warfare and we're talking astir Buy Canadian, if we don't person Canadian jewelers, past each manufacturing is going to spell elsewhere. And this volition conscionable it'll kneecap our manufacture if we don't person young radical coming retired anymore," Hakin said.

"From my perspective, I besides deliberation it's truthful important to larn however to bash things the close way. And this programme was the hardest happening I've ever done successful my life... but it was truthful rewarding. And I deliberation it's truthful important that erstwhile you spell to a jeweler that they person that foundation.

"I deliberation it should beryllium saved."

Mel Rapp, an autarkic retail optician and proprietor of a retail optical dispensary called Rapp Optical Ltd., said helium graduated successful 2000 and applied the techniques helium learned to his eyewear business.

"The sadness is that for a young idiosyncratic who wants to larn a trade, and past from that trade, possibly segue into different industry, which a batch of jewelers volition do, they won't person that opportunity," Rapp said.

"Without the due acquisition and without the dedication of the instructors astatine George Brown, I would not cognize fractional the things that I cognize today."