LETTER: Selkirk students campaign against college tuition increases
By Letters to the editor
Dear Editor,
Since 2001, tuition has increased annually for Selkirk College students.. Last year alone, the cost of attending Selkirk College from the year previous to the current academic year jumped 6.6 per cent. Last year, tuition fees were introduced for adult basic education, which are high school courses taken at the College.
These annual increases are unrealistic and unsustainable for normal working people around here. This month, directors of the Selkirk College Students’ Union asked that the Board of Governors to freeze tuition for the 2017/18 academic year, and return adult basic education to its previous tuition fee free status. With 690 student signatures on the Selkirk College Student’s Union’s petition supporting these two asks, and two municipal endorsements from Nelson and Trail for the British Columbia Federation of Students’ campaign to return the funding that made adult basic education free, it is obvious that our community would support the Board of Governors if they had chosen to resist pressure from the Ministry, ensuring that education at Selkirk College is accessible to residents. At our presentation, we reminded them that students are now responsible for 40 percent of funding the school.
The Selkirk College Board of Governors, the majority of which is appointed by Christy Clark’s cabinet, voted to increase tuition fees for next year. Now it is time for voters in our area to consider if the current provincial government has our region’s best interest in mind when heading to the polls in May.
Santanna Hernandez
Director at Large,
Selkirk College Students’ Union
Local 2 of the British Columbia Federation of Students
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