Liberal Opposition critic for Education and Advanced Education and Skills, Andrew Parsons, will be attending the National Student Day of Action at Memorial University’s main campus in St. John’s today, February 1^st. 

The annual Canadian Federation of Students’ (CFS) Day of Action will see students and student leaders rallying government to make post-secondary education more affordable, and thereby more accessible.

“Investment in post-secondary education is an investment in our young people and in the future generations of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians,” said Parsons.

The Day of Action calls for the reduction of tuition fees, the lowering of student debt, and the increase of education funding. Parsons agrees that these three goals are essential to making university education more widely available to citizens of this province.

“When students are not burdened financially by tuition and student debt, and when more money is available to them as they pursue their studies, then that is a huge head start as they enter the workforce.”

Parsons noted that while this government has kept in place a tuition freeze introduced by the previous Liberal administration, there is much more that can be done to ease the financial burden faced by post-secondary students in this province.

“This is a Day of Action calling for education to be a right. Too many people in this province are currently shut out of post-secondary education because tuition is still too high and because the debt load is so crippling,” said Parsons. “We must support our students and do what we can to make a university education more affordable for those presently attending and for future students so that they can thrive beyond their university years without the worry of massive debt loads.”

As the CFS also represents students at The College of the North Atlantic (CNA), Parsons believes that government needs to be creative with their investment in the trades, especially considering drastic workforce shortages.

“Government must initiate creative ways to get people to enroll, get them into programs, especially where waitlists are shorter and the benefits to the community are even greater.”