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Students Fight for Universally Accessible
Education
Theses disputes between student unions and the administration seem to be somewhat universal, with a series of struggles for lower tuition fees spreading across the province. And while the York T.A.'s are struggling for what they deem to be fair pay—the idea of the inaccessibility of a post-secondary education seems to drive many of the strikes and disputes that have taken place since the beginning of the academic year. The Graduate Students' Union of University of Toronto describes their lobby for lower tuition fees with a simple sign. A poster-board with University of Toronto's crest, and a slogan: "Great minds with great debts," furthering their manifesto with a link to a Post-Secondary Education Issues Research Digest. A collection of essays concerning financial issues and educational inequality in Canada compiled by the Canadian Federation of Students. A statement by John Ralston Saul, a well regarded Canadian author and lecturer: "Let's be clear about the effect of unsustainable cost and the resulting debts on individual students. Wherever tuition goes down, enrolment goes up. And where does the increase in students come from? From those with less money. In other words, the lower the fees, the more egalitarian the society. The lower the fees, the more we are able to release the genius of the citizenry as a whole. And that genius, that collective unconscious is the key to a successful democracy." Which begs the question: Why is it that in Canada, where tuition fees are dwarfed by their American, is there such a movement toward universally accessible education—so fervent in some individuals that they would risk their status in university in order to ensure it, with protests that have resulted in police involvement and levied charges. While there has been a recent phenomenon of Americans seeking to pursue their post-secondary degrees outside of the country in order to avoid the extreme costs of an undergraduate education, with the increasing financial crisis for average Americans, it's seems illogical that they would be uninterested in a more accessible educational systems. Nov. 5 marked the latest rally for lower fees at University of Toronto—a show of solidarity for fellow broke students. It was a sunny day, with sharp gusts of wind, and the presence of police mounted on horses, regulating the collaboration of the hundreds of students who marched down Bay Street. "So listen, it goes like this," commented one protestor, who claimed to have a ban balance of around $5: "In order to have a future, you have to go to University, and in order to go to university, you have to be in debt—so in order to have a future you have to be in debt? Does that sound right to you?" PREVIOUS ENTRIES The
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