January 23, 2019

Toronto,ON–The Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance of Ontario and its sister organizations, the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario and SIKLAB Ontario, stand in solidarity with youth and students in the fight for the right to free and accessible education. On January 17th 2019, the Ford government announced changes towards tuition fees and loans for post-secondary education, including a reduction of OSAP grants for low-income students and slashing the six-month interest-free grace period in exchange for a 10% tuition cut. While the Ford government claims that such changes would “reduce complexity for students” and help “students keep more money in their pocket”, the accumulation of debt as a result greatly outweighs the tuition cut.

The proposed changes will have little effect on alleviating the cost of post-secondary education in Ontario. Across Canada, students in Ontario pay the highest tuition fees and receive the lowest per-student government funding. A reduction of 10% is but a few hundred dollars and students are still left with over $25,000 in tuition fees for a four-year undergraduate degree. These changes will prevent students from enrolling into post-secondary education especially if they are coming from low-income families. Students will be forced to work alongside doing their studies causing an increase in stress levels.  Removing the six-month interest free grace period will not “reduce complexity for students” but force students to find a job immediately upon graduation in the current economy where secure and stable employment is hard to come by. Students will have to face their ballooning student debt together with the skyrocketing cost of living. Low-income and marginalized youth will be hardest hit. These proposed changes reinforce the Conservative government’s position that education is a privilege for those who can financially afford it and not a universal right.

Making non-tuition fee costs optional, such as: athletics, counselling, special services, political, and cultural initiatives–that have been approved through student referendums–means that funding for extracurricular student union’s and student groups are at risk. It is clear that these changes are made to weaken student voices and eliminate dissent. The Ford government is trying to silence the very voices that keep them accountable. This change is also a direct attack of minority students on campus who are the ones utilizing the ancillary fee levy programs to operate. Action groups addressing concerns around sexual assault on campus, for example, will lose their funding with these new changes and it sends the message that the well-being, safety, and input of youth and students are not a priority for the Ford government. For a government that champions “free speech”, these changes do the exact opposite.

The Ford government’s ongoing cuts on public spending in healthcare and now for post-secondary education is a direct attack on the working class and proves that Doug Ford in actuality is not “for the people.” If Ford truly cared about youth and students, he would reverse the Mike Harris government’s corporate tax cuts of the late 1990s in order to provide adequate funding for post-secondary education and make it a universal right instead of a privilege. Instead, the provincial government push to implement neoliberal policies continually choosing to target marginalized communities and  working class families—further denying them genuine access to education. As progressive community organizers, the Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance of Ontario condemn these policy changes which enable the privatization of education and will continue to demand for the right to affordable and accessible education.

Education is a right!
Free and accessible education for all now!
Make the youth count!

 

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For more information, contact:
Sophia Dizon
ukpcon@gmail.com