Post-Secondary Priorities Discussed at Third Student Roundtable

Affordable access to post-secondary education, student debt, and other issues of importance to students were on the agenda today as the Honourable Joan Burke, Minister of Education, sat down with representatives of youth and post-secondary education organizations to discuss their priorities during the third Ministerial Roundable on Post-Secondary Education, held at the Delta St. John’s Hotel and Conference Centre.

“These discussions have always proven very useful in determining the best way to invest public funds to assist students and ensure they have every opportunity to study, and eventually graduate, live and work in Newfoundland and Labrador,” said Minister Burke. “We recognize that youth and student organizations are on the front lines of our post-secondary education system and that they provide valuable input which informs public policy. We need to know what matters to them, and what we can do as a Provincial Government, within our capabilities, to respond to their needs.”

Youth and student organizations represented at the roundtable included the Canadian Federation of Students, Memorial University of Newfoundland Students’ Union, the Graduate Students’ Union of Memorial University of Newfoundland, College of the North Atlantic Students’ Union, Marine Institute Students’ Union, Grenfell College Students’ Union, the Newfoundland and Labrador Youth Advisory Committee, the Youth Retention and Attraction Strategy Committee.

Minister Burke noted that investments in post-secondary education have never been greater. Since 2004, Provincial Government funding has increased by nearly 93 per cent, going from a per student investment of $8,900 to more than $17,000 this year.

Newfoundland and Labrador is recognized nationally as a leader in debt reduction initiatives. Tuition fees in this province are among the lowest in the country, with the Provincial Government having invested $101.6 million to freeze tuition fees at Memorial University and College of the North Atlantic over the past six years. The tuition freeze will continue in the 2011 academic year.

- 30 -

Media contacts:
 

2011 03 08                                                                         4:10 p.m.