The level of commitment towards tuition fee reduction in the upcoming provincial election is disappointing, according to Sandy Hudson, chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario (CFS-O).
The CFS-O has released an annual election report card revealing a poor commitment to tuition fee reduction and overall effort to make post-secondary education more affordable, Hudson said.
Conducted each year, election report cards are sent to political parties in each province to get a sense of how they plan to address issues like student debt reduction, funding for aboriginal education, support for graduate funding and research, and reforming copyright.
This year, the CFS-O gave the Ontario Liberal Party a C+, the Ontario Progressive Conservatives a D, the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) a B+, and the Green Party of Ontario a B-.
Hudson said all parties have recognized the importance of making post-secondary education more affordable, but have made little action.
We’re looking for something a little more creative, robust and significant, but we haven’t seen anything yet, Hudson said.
The Green party plans to introduce lower tuition fees for graduate students who have finished their coursework, Hudson said.
Typically there’s a point when graduate students have finished coursework and use less resources. The Green party plans to make their tuition fees much lower Hudson said.
On tuition fees reduction, the Liberals received an F, because the party will not take a position on tuition fee increases until after the election, according to the report card. The Conservatives also received an F for no commitment to regulate, freeze, or reduce tuition fees, the report stated. The NDP received a B for promising to freeze college, undergraduate and graduate tuition fees, and the Green party a C+ for promising to freeze tuition fees at the rate of inflation.
Liberals received a C in funding for promising an extra $310 million and the Conservatives were given a D+ for having no specific platform. The NDP, on the other hand, got an A for committing to increase funding to above the national average, and the Green party a B, for supporting a multi-year funding framework.
The Ontario Liberal Party issued a media release Sept. 26, questioning the NDP’s high mark in funding, as the costing of their platform doesn’t have a penny set aside to back up [their] promise of increasing funding above the national average, the release stated.
