Memorial University's Student Editorial(est. 1950)

“Get your education. That’s one thing they can never take away from you,” is something I heard a lot growing up in my rural community. My family always emphasized the importance of education. I heard stories from elders in my family about the days when it was common for both girls and boys to drop out of school early in order to work to support their families. The girls would help with child-rearing and caretaking and the boys with hunting and fishing. There was little options to pursue higher education. Life was primarily about survival. 

We still see the impacts of lack of opportunity for education particularly in older generations, notably in rural areas. The lack of access to education has historically had consequences for many in outport communities like mine. Fishers who worked under the merchant system were repeatedly cheated by the merchants to whom they had to sell their labour. Many were unable to read contracts or use mathematical skills to verify their income, hindering workers’ ability to advocate for themselves.

The inaccessibility of education helped facilitate the widespread trauma inflicted by the Christian churches, particularly the Catholic Church, via abusive clergymen who exploited the written word of religion. It is easier to enforce a position of power and shame people into silence when people are not equipped with literacy skills and education allowing for free expression and equal consideration of all voices.

It may be a cliche, but knowledge is power, especially for those deprived of material wealth. Education provides benefit to all members of society. It improves critical thinking skills, generates new ideas, and empowers people to take action in their communities. Education leads to an overall improvement in health outcomes and social mobility. 

Canada has prided itself on being a country in which all people have ‘equal opportunities’ to further their education. Premier Andrew Furey has spoken about the importance of investing in education since it is “investing in our youth,” and thus, investing in our future.

Despite this, for the last several years we have seen continuous attacks on higher education and a rise in education inaccessibility in our province. Under Premier Furey’s leadership, the provincial government removed the longstanding tuition freeze that kept tuition accessible for students and gave us the honour of boasting the lowest tuition prices for domestic students out of all accredited Canadian universities. 

End of tuition freeze means pricing students out

A ‘tuition freeze’ was initially implemented at MUN in 1999, introduced by PC Premier Brian Tobin. When first announced, the policy set out to stay the cost of tuition for two years. Despite continuous threats to end the freeze over the years, the tuition freeze has remained in place. In 2021 The Big Reset: The Report of the Premier’s Economic Recovery Team recommended a whopping 30% decrease to MUN’s funding over six years, among other austerity measures that were presented as necessary to reduce the provincial deficit.

Following the report, MUN administration doubled tuition fees in fall of 2022. The cost of tuition skyrocketed from $2,550 for domestic students to around $6,000 per year. For international students, the hike was even greater, increasing from $11,460 to around $20,000 per academic year. Furey has claimed the approximate $68.4 million worth of funding cuts was necessary to lower the provincial deficit, and stated that MUN’s formerly inexpensive tuition “diminishes the value of the university.” The removal of the tuition freeze has had devastating implications for students, the university, and the province as a whole.

Since the provincial budget cuts, MUN has seen an overall decline in enrolment, (5.4% drop overall, 14.5% drop for international students this year alone). In 2022, Newfoundland and Labrador already had the lowest percentage of bachelor degree holders of any province, over ten points lower than the national average.

On top of this, following the university’s tuition increases, the MUN food bank reported record-high demand, even closing down for a number of weeks in 2022 due to lack of resources. This is further concerning when you consider that a study completed in 2018, pre-pandemic and the rise of the cost of living crisis, that researched food insecurity among MUN students revealed that almost half of students participating experienced food insecurity. 

Cuts to MUN negatively impact NL’s economy

According to MUNSU executive, Furey has refused to meet with undergraduate student leadership for over 500 days, ignoring his responsibility of adequately representing students’ concerns and fostering a supportive educational environment within the province. Additionally, the call for the premier to meet with representatives of over 20,000 students, faculty and staff has been ignored. The combination of austerity policies and a blatant refusal to engage with student concerns have contributed to an erosion of trust in leadership.

While the cuts to the province’s only university has been positioned as a net economic benefit to the people of NL, this is a misrepresentation of reality. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives warned of the negative impacts the elimination of the tuition freeze may cause, such as decreases in enrolment and a reduction in the overall competitiveness of MUN as a university.

The Centre referred to funding cut as ‘passing the buck’ of the province’s deficit onto NL’s students. Its report showed that by 2025, undergraduate students that represent only 2.2% of NL’s population would have paid off about a third of the province’s debt. This is all despite the fact that research continuously shows higher levels of education as a net positive, economically, and socially for all of members of society.

Having heard all my life about the importance and value of education, and how members of my own family did not have the opportunity to attend post-secondary, it’s especially disheartening to see the chipping away at MUN as a beacon of learning for the people of this province. It is especially alarming to witness the lack of concern from provincial leaders about the direction of higher education in NL.

Despite Premier Furey’s promise to “re-evaluate” MUN’s funding, no further steps have yet been taken specifically on tuition. If action is not taken to support our students and make higher learning more accessible, we can expect to see MUN’s student enrolment continue to decrease. This will lead to the reduction of education rates within the province, which will have reverberating effects across our communities.

Post-secondary education is important to become ‘well-being of province’

Defunding MUN wears away our ability to take control and direction over our own futures through initiatives promoting political participation, environmental sustainability, and other forms of social engagement. This does not bode well for NL’s already abysmal civic engagement, made particularly clear by the province reporting the lowest voter turnout rates across the country. These issues are directly connected to the insufficient funding of public education in the province.

Ironically, Premier Furey has recently embarked on a campaign to present NL as Canada’s first “well-being province.” He claims that his government’s goals are to focus on the social determinants of health, which includes access to quality education. In an announcement marking the end of ‘well-being week’ in September, Furey stated: “my government will definitely continue to take your well-being as the top, number-one priority in everything we do.”

Perhaps he is placing his bets on the public having selective memory, but many students have taken notice to the Premier’s lack of response to student concerns. It’s clear that MUN, as the province’s sole university is struggling. Since the funding cuts to MUN were implemented, both government and university administration have passed blame to one another for the challenges currently facing us, while neglecting to take action.

Furey continues to absolve his administration of any responsibility in creating the current conditions at MUN. In response to a campaign led by student, faculty, and staff unions to increase pressure on government to restore MUN’s funding, Furey said that funding “wasn’t cut, it was displaced.” How does the government plan on presenting NL as a ‘well-being province’ while leaving post-secondary education behind? Education austerity must end if we want to develop a thriving, informed populace where all people can have equal opportunity to explore their potential.

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