Aboriginal
Students Welcome New Campus Gathering Spaces
Express Concern that too
many Aboriginal youth aren't able to access post-secondary
The
Canadian Federation
of Students expressed support for the BC government's announcement of
new
campus gathering spaces for Aboriginal students. The Federation also
noted that
due to tuition fee increases and underfunding at the federal level many
Aboriginal students are unable to access post-secondary education and
will
never benefit from the gathering spaces.
"The
new spaces are
certainly welcome, as many colleges and universities do not have
adequate
cultural and support services for Aboriginal students," said Michael
White, BC Aboriginal Students' Representative of the Canadian
Federation of
Students. "Unfortunately, with tuition fees having doubled and average
student debt at $27,000 upon graduation, there won't be many Aboriginal
students in the gathering places."
Since
2002, tuition fees
have more than doubled in BC and average student debt has increased by
45%. Consequently,
Aboriginal people remain dramatically under-represented in the
post-secondary
system. Furthermore, the federal government is responsible for
providing
post-secondary education to Aboriginal students; however, funding
increases for
the First Nations Post-Secondary Student Support Program (PSSSP) have
been
capped at 2% per year since the early 1990s, despite Aboriginal people
being
the fastest growing demographic in Canada.
The
Canadian Federation
of Students has called for a 10% reduction in tuition fees in the 2008
BC
Budget and has been lobbying the federal government to increase funding
to the
PSSSP and remove the 2% cap on annual funding increases in order to
increase
access for Aboriginal students. The Assembly of First Nations estimates
that
10,000 Aboriginal students have been denied funding in the last five
years as a
result of federal underfunding.
"It's disgraceful that so many Aboriginal youth are being left behind by government policies," said BC Chairperson of the Federation Shamus Reid, "The BC government must reduce tuition fees and stand up for BC at the federal level to demand that the federal government adequately fund Aboriginal students."
