High school students across the province walked out of school this week to protest Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s recent OSAP cuts, which curtail the maximum OSAP grant from 85 per cent to 25 per cent.
Students at Merivale High School walked out of classes on Thursday to march to MPP Chandra Pasma’s office, where they voiced their anger and concerns for their futures in post-secondary education.
More than 30 years ago, Grade 11 student Katie Coates’ mom walked out of her Belleville high school to protest OSAP cuts. Now, Coates is carrying on the fight as the organizer of the Merivale walkout. “This is two generations of us protesting OSAP cuts,” she said.
Coates worries for her fellow students’ futures, she said.
“Most of the kids in our school are not coming from rich families. A lot of our students are going to be on OSAP. These kids have so much potential, but a lot of them have given up because [OSAP] was their only hope.”
“Each and everyone of us can vote in the next election cycle, so do something about this, or we’re not going to vote for you,” Coates said, addressing Ontario politicians.
Eilish McKibbon is set to graduate from Merivale High School this spring and had ideas about moving away for university. With the added cost of rent and meal plans, though, she said that option without OSAP is unfeasible.
McKibbon, who plans to go into the social sciences, said she took it personally when Doug Ford recently told students to stop picking “basket weaving courses” in response to his OSAP cuts. It’s part of the reason she helped to organize the walkout.
In the same news conference, Ford told students to prioritize STEM careers, but McKibbon said the OSAP cuts will result in fewer students able to afford expensive STEM degrees.
“The cuts to OSAP affect us all,” McKibbon said. “We are worried about our futures and how we can afford to learn and be passionate about the things we love.”
“In high school, our labs are underfunded, our teachers are underfunded, our bathrooms don’t have paper towels, we barely have soap, our desks are falling apart. There’s not much left to cut,” Coates added.
Pasma, who is also the Official Opposition’s education critic, responded to the students by saying she was happy to see them raising their voices.
“You’re going to have to pay more, and it’s going to put you in greater debt,” Pasma told the students.
Pasma added because the government “isn’t properly funding universities and colleges,” many schools are cutting programs. She said this could lead to fewer career choices and higher unemployment rates, which would make paying off education debt more difficult.
“This is your future, and you deserve so much better from the province,” she said to the crowd.
Pasma told the Charlatan that Ford’s cuts are “cruel and unfair.”
“Their entire futures are affected by these changes to OSAP,” she said. “When I see something like that affecting the future of an entire generation, I have to support the people who are speaking up against that.”
Featured image by Claire Collee/the Charlatan
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