TORONTO, Feb. 21, 2013 /CNW/ - Students are calling on Premier Kathleen Wynne to take immediate and decisive action to make post-secondary education more affordable by establishing a new tuition fee framework that cuts tuition fees for all students. The current Reaching Higher framework is set to expire this fall.
"Under Dalton McGuinty's watch, tuition fees have increased to record high levels, leaving students in Ontario paying the highest fees in the country," said Sarah Jayne King, Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario. "It's time for the Liberal government to turn a new page on tuition fee policy and work to remove the financial barriers to accessing post-secondary education in this province."
The Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario released Changing Priorities: Moving Towards Affordable Post-Secondary Education today, recommending the government implement a multi-year tuition fee framework that reduces tuition fees by 30 per cent over three years, establishes a long-term plan to progressively eliminate tuition fees and ensures that tuition fee billing policies and practices are fair for students.
The Reaching Higher framework has allowed tuition fees to increase by five to eight per cent each year since 2006. The framework was supposed to expire in 2010, but has been renewed for the past three years. Under Reaching Higher, tuition fees have increased as much as 71 per cent in Ontario and student debt owed to the provincial government has more than doubled.
"Investing in post-secondary education and building a healthy economy is a matter of priorities," said King. "The provincial government has the capacity to make universal, publicly-funded college and university education a reality. To start, the Premier should make good on the Liberal election commitment and truly reduce tuition fees by 30 per cent for all students."
Read Changing Priorities: Moving Towards Affordable Post-Secondary Education here.
The Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario represents over 300,000 students in all regions of the province. The Canadian Federation of Students is Canada's largest and oldest student organization.
Image with caption: "Changing priorities: Ontario could afford to eliminate tuition fees (CNW Group/Canadian Federation of Students)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20130221_C7381_PHOTO_EN_23943.jpg
SOURCE: Canadian Federation of Students
Kaley Kennedy, Communications and Government Relations Coordinator, 416-925-3825 (office) or 647-302-3891 (cell)
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