A group of post-secondary students and workers will be marching in Burnaby today to demand a free on tuition hikes.
Students and workers from UBC, SFU, and UVic will join with community
allies to march from Metrotown Skytrain station to the office of Anne Kang, The minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training to demand a freeze on ongoing tuition hikes that “make our public universities a place for the rich, not the working class,” said a news release. “Students are not cash cows and universally accessible public education is the foundation of a just society.
The students are inviting people to meet them at the station at 1 p.m. to join in.
“Over the past 20 years, tuition at SFU has increased nearly 200%, making school today three times as expensive as at the turn of the millennium,” said Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU) chief steward and SFU sessional instructor, Amal Vincent, in a statement. “As tuition increases, students have to work longer hours, take on additional jobs, or rack up even more debt to continue their studies. As an instructor, I see too many of my students struggling financially.”
“As a student at SFU, tuition increase is more than a number, it affects students every day of their lives,” said SFU undergraduate student, Eshana Baran. “Rising tuition costs on top of other basic expenses such as housing and food make it nearly impossible for students to save money and start planning for life after university.”
Tuition Freeze Now will deliver a letter demanding the government:
Implement a freeze on tuition for all students at post-secondary institutions across the province.
Provide increases to funding across the post-secondary sector to enable the freeze.
Commit to strike a commission to study the feasibility of providing free post-secondary education for all.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
