University students in New Brunswick are calling on the province to stop making cuts to post-secondary education.
Students at the University of New Brunswick, St. Thomas University and Mount Allison University held rallies on their campuses Thursday.
The rallies are part of the #DontCutOurFuture campaign started by the New Brunswick Student Alliance (NBSA).
KJ Conyers-Steede, the executive director of the student alliance, said they wanted to put a face to the cuts.
“A student came to us and told us that a single parent now has to figure out how they’re going to pay for their schooling as well as handle their child’s care,” said Conyers-Steede. “Students are feeling the brunt of this weight.”
The New Brunswick government introduced several changes to student financial aid in the spring, according to the NBSA.
They include cutting the Free Tuition Program and the Tuition Relief for the Middle Class, eliminating the Timely Completion Benefit, reintroducing the Tuition Tax Credit, and introducing the Renewed Tuition Bursary.
To learn more about how you can stand with us and tell the government #DontCutOurFuture, visit https://t.co/dqQyPr8j5d
To apply for TCB: https://t.co/unVH7YaE0Z…/petl-…/PDF/SFS/tcb-ApplicationForm.pdf pic.twitter.com/nVMCzqEBQh
— NB Student Alliance (@NBSA_AENB) September 11, 2019
Conyers-Steede said the changes were made without any input from those who would be impacted by them.
“As everyone knows, New Brunswick has a lot of low-income students within the province and a lot of first-generation students,” he said. “We are putting individuals who can benefit the most from post-secondary education at risk because of these cuts.”
Conyers-Steede said the issue is part of a larger conversation the alliance is trying to have — said students want a strategic vision for post-secondary education.
He said they feel post-secondary education is a key component to developing the province in the future.
“Education throughout the past has been used as a political football and the students are coming together to showcase that they want to have a vested interest in the future of their province when it comes to education,” Conyers-Steede said.
“We understand that students don’t have all the answers, but students play a key part in developing a user-centric approach to post-secondary education.”
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