Make education accessible to reduce poverty: students

Chanting “students united, we'll never be defeated,” and carrying “drop tuition fees” signs, more than 100 post-secondary school students marched down Paris Street, onto Elgin Street and through the downtown to Tom Davies Square Nov. 5.

The students were protesting as part of a province-wide “day of action for a poverty-free Ontario” aimed at eliminating poverty by reducing tuition fees and making post-secondary education more affordable.

They also want the province to reform social assistance, increase minimum wage, introduce affordable child-care and housing and good jobs for all.

The students were joined in their protest by about 20 members of Steelworkers Local 6500, who are currently on strike.

Two weeks ago, Statistics Canada released a study showing that Ontario now has the highest post-secondary tuition fees in the country, according to Rafiq Rahemtulla, vice-president of the Graduate Students Association at Laurentian University.

“We used to be second to Nova Scotia, and as of this year, we're number one. So we are demanding the McGuinty government — a government that was elected under the guise of being an education government — to correct this terrible wrong,” he said.

“We want per-student funding to be increased to at least the national average, tuition fees to be frozen and progressively reduced, and post-secondary education included as a major part of the government's anti-poverty strategy.”

Education is “supposed to be this great social equalizer,” but it can't help bring people out of poverty if it's prohibitively expensive, said Rahemtulla.

“If you have to take on a mortgage-sized debt load just to get an education, you're creating a barrier there,” he said.

Rahemtulla said the day of action has been endorsed by many municipalities across the province, including the City of Greater Sudbury.

The student said he was happy to see so many students turn out, as well as the Local 6500 members. Many of the strikers have children in college and university, and are having a hard time helping them pay for tuition fees right now, he said.
“It's very difficult without a stable income,” he said.

More information about the day of action for a poverty-free Ontario is available by going to http://fileserver.cfsadmin.org/file/dropfees/18125befcdc003a3ae845fc5e7cc9f170a36fde4.pdf .