Students Welcome New Minister of Education
June 29, 2023
St. John’s - The Canadian Federation of Students - Newfoundland & Labrador (CFS-NL) is eager to work with the Honourable Krista Lynn Howell as the new Minister of Education.
We recognize that there have been substantial strains on public post-secondary institutions through various cuts to funding and programs at the Memorial University and College of the North Atlantic campuses. With this change in leadership, we are calling for increased actions to fund these institutions, and work towards the goal of high-quality, free education for all.
Memorial University in particular has been hit with a scheduled budget cut of $68.4 million over five years, as announced in 2021. In response to these cuts, students have seen an increase in tuition fees that has nearly been tripled.
"Students of Newfoundland and Labrador who are engaging in their right to an education have been experiencing many challenges caused by the crisis of inaccessible public post-secondary education." said Chairperson for CFS-NL, Mary Feltham. "Students have been the target to offset the cuts to Memorial made by the provincial government. This, in addition to concerns of food and housing insecurity, has caused many to not be able to access their right to an education. We are ready to meet and work with Minister Howell to rectify this crisis by aiming for free education for all."
If these cuts continue, undergraduate students will be tasked with shouldering the burden of the province’s deficit reduction plan - even though the deficit is on course to turn into a surplus within five years. In a province consisting of 522,000 people, a recent CCPA Report ‘Passing the Buck’ found that Memorial University undergraduate students - who represent merely 2.2% of the province’s population - could end up paying a third (29%) of the province’s entire deficit by 2025-26.
CFS-NL would like to extend best wishes to the Honourable Dr. John Haggie, former Minister of Education, as he begins his new role as the Minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs.
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For further information, please contact:
Robert Leamon, Organizer
709.737.3204 (O), 709.771.0222 (M)
r.leamon@cfs-nl.ca
The Canadian Federation of Students - Newfoundland and Labrador proudly unites 25,000 public post-secondary students in NL in the fight for high-quality, affordable, post-secondary education.
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